Falcons WR Julio Jones was asked if he thinks he’ll have an opportunity to test the free agent market at some point in the near future.
“I will not get to free agency,” Jones said in an interview with SI Now. “They gave up a lot for me and they know how hard I work. They’re not going to let me go. And I love Atlanta, I love being here.”
Atlanta exercised Jones’ fifth-year option back in April, so even without a long-term contract in place there is a good chance he’ll be back with the Falcons next year.
The fifth-year option would cost the Falcons $10.176 million for the 2015 season, but this figure is only guaranteed for injury and doesn’t prevent them from working out an agreement on a long-term deal in the coming months.
As Jones said, Atlanta gave up a lot when they sent the Browns their No. 27, 59, and 124 overall picks of the 2011 draft to go along with their first and fourth-round selections in 2012 for the right to take Jones.
Jones, 25, unfortunately suffered a season-ending foot injury in October of last year and was limited to playing a total of 298 snaps over the course of five games.
There’s no question that the Falcons missed him last year, but it will be interesting to see if this anyone impacts contract talks.
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