Falcons seek to lock down potential free agents

Flowery Branch — Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff plans to continue working to whittle down the team’s potentially large free agent class.

The team signed wide receiver Michael Jenkins and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux to four- and five-year contract extensions on Tuesday.

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Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Michael Jenkins has 33 catches for 498 yards and three touchdowns for the Falcons this season.

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“There is a lot that goes into making decisions like this,” Dimitroff said. “These guys fit our mold. They believe in our system and again, they embody the team concept. They are adept players at their respective positions. We are excited about them as we move forward in our redevelopment as a team.”

Falcons coach Mike Smith also was pleased with the re-signings.

“Anytime you can sign your own players back, it’s a positive,” Smith said. “Both Jenks and Babs are team players. They are guys that we want around.”

The Falcons have 11 more players, including linebacker Michael Boley, cornerback Domonique Foxworth, defensive end Chauncey Davis and punter Michael Koenen, who can become unrestricted free agents after the season.

The team is currently in talks with several of the players and might have more contract extensions before the end of the season.

By signing Jenkins, who has 33 catches for 498 yards and three touchdowns and is on pace for his second consecutive 50-catch season, for four years, the Falcons hope to keep some continuity in the receiving corps for rookie quarterback Matt Ryan.

“Michael continues to provide a lot of leadership at that position,” Dimitroff said. “He’s a productive guy who will continue to improve. He has improved a great deal in my mind. He really adds a nice dimension to helping Matt Ryan evolve as a quarterback.”

With Ryan, Jenkins, Roddy White and rookie Harry Douglas, the Falcons have the foundation of a potentially potent passing attack. They are averaging 212.5 yards passing a game, which is 14th in the league of 32 teams.

The group — along with Brian Finneran — has clicked in Ryan’s rookie season, despite being together only since April.

“He’s a great guy, and certainly I look forward to him being my teammate for a while,” said Ryan, whose first career pass went to Jenkins for a 62-yard touchdown. “It’s a great thing as a quarterback to know that you’re going to have great players around you for a long time. Jenks has certainly been a great player for us this year.”

Jenkins could have eschewed the extension and waited to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, but he likes the potential where he is.

“I felt like we really have something special going on,” Jenkins said. “To be here with Matt, Roddy and Harry and the guys that are here right now, hopefully we can keep that core together.

“When you look back on it, the great teams of the past kind of had the same guys there with them throughout their careers. Hopefully we can have something like that here.”

White is set to become a free agent in 2010. With him nearing his second consecutive 1,000-yard season, the Falcons will likely try to lock him down next season and prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent.

“I’m just going to wait until the end of the season and see what those guys want to do,” White said. “See what their intentions are, signing me next year or what my deal is around here.

“I’m just kind of focused on this year and playing it out. Just having a great season this year. … I want to be a Falcon the rest of my career. Hopefully, that happens for me. But this is a business and you know that a people make business decisions.”