The recent Antonio Brown deal has pioneered a new movement for NFL wide receivers, and Julio Jones could be one of the next to profit.
The price tag for Jones, an eight-year Falcons receiver, has reportedly “gone up” as a result of Saturday's developments, per ESPN's Field Yates.
Following a trade between the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers, Brown negotiated a new deal with Oakland that will pay him $50.125 million over the next three seasons, with $30.125 million in guaranteed money, per Joe Rutter of TribLIVE.
The Falcons are optimistic that they will work it out with Jones.
“Julio Jones, not worried about it, still don’t have a timetable on that,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff recently told D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We’re in a really good place with Julio. By season’s begin, we’ll be in a good place with him as well as we have talked about in the offseason. We have other decisions to make, of course. “
Jones’ deal currently has two years remaining. He is set to make $9.6 million in 2019 and $11.4 million in 2020. With Brown’s new deal averaging $18 million, the Falcons will likely have to double Jones' base salary and grant a two- or three-year extension to reduce salary cap ramifications, per Ledbetter.
“You can get money from Julio because he’s kind of self contained,” CBS Sports NFL business analyst Joel Corry said recently on 92.9 The Game. “Let’s say you make Julio Jones in terms of new money, tack on $60 million of new money over three years. You take his base salary down to the league minimum and give him a $20 million signing bonus. You can probably pick up for $4 million to $5 million in cap room depending on how you precisely structure it. There are ways to get cap room.”
Jones, 30, will likely have wealthy times ahead with the Falcons whenever they are able to strike an agreement. He hauled in 113 catches for 1,677 yards and eight scores last season.
Antonio Brown's new contract has changed the narrative for NFL receivers.
Julio Jones, Tyreek Hill, and Amari Cooper are currently among those who are soon likely to follow Brown with a big payday from their respective organizations.
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