One of the biggest storylines this offseason for the Falcons will center around the long-term future of wide receiver Julio Jones. The Falcons excercised the fifth-year option on his contract last year. Now, getting him under a second contract becomes the next step.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said Thursday at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine that he and head coach Dan Quinn have had discussions about Jones' future and working out all the logistics that come with that.
"This is much more difficult than it was many years ago, in my mind, to take a quarterback who's going to be very expensive and take a receiver and a couple other positions and make sure you're paying market value and also making sure you have enough space on the team to do the right thing," Dimitroff said.
Jones' first four seasons have been interrupted at times by injury, something that Dimitroff said he's not concerned about at all as the team evaluates his future.
Dimitroff said he's always impressed by how Jones takes care of his body, what he puts in his body and the professionalism with which he treats his role as a professional athlete, and that, combined with his on-field abilities, makes him the type of player the Falcons want to keep around.
"Plain and simple," Dimitroff said, "we want Julio to be here for many years to come."
