There’s “Brotherhood” and then there’s business. The Falcons took care of the latter with Julio Jones, so coach Dan Quinn could not only say the former remained intact, but cite it as a reason why he never really worried about Jones holding out.
Jones reported to camp on time Thursday after threatening to hold out in a contract dispute. Quinn said he figured that’s what would happen based on his communication with Jones through the summer.
“I probably didn’t feel the same stress that you and the fan base had,” Quinn said.
I’m sure Jones assured Quinn that he would be here for camp. I’m just as certain that Jones would not have reported if he didn’t get his contract reworked.
The Falcons gave Jones more up-front money, the cash that matters most in the cut-them-and-don’t-pay-them NFL, and publicly pledged to give him a new deal after this season. That was enough for Jones to end his holdout before it officially began.
With Jones in the fold, Quinn begins training camp without Jones’ absence mucking up his usual upbeat messages about unity. General manager Thomas Dimitroff could credit franchise owner Arthur Blank, who “believes in culture, who believes in taking are of our people, taking care of our players and treating people the right way.”
In other words, even this contract negotiation was about Quinn’s ubiquitous Brotherhood.
“I know you guys get sick and tired of hearing about it, but it’s legit and it’s real,” Dimitroff said.
I'm not tired of hearing about the Brotherhood. It's just that I've long been skeptical that bromides more suited for college football work with hardened professionals. Quinn has done an excellent job of creating a real esprit de corps among the Falcons, but good vibes don't make deposits in his players' bank accounts.
Business first threatened to clash with Quinn's Brotherhood when Devonta Freeman publicly complained about his contract during Super Bowl week in Houston. Back then I wondered whether Quinn could maintain the team chemistry he's created as coach when players see him make cold business decisions as shot caller.
The Falcons ended up taking care of Freeman with a contract extension and now they’ve placated Jones, too. AJC colleague D. Orlando Ledbetter reports that the Falcons converted a total of $3 million in future base salaries for Jones to a signing bonus due now.
That was always the simplest solution if Jones were looking for more security and the Falcons didn’t want to use cap space now or push too much money into the future. So then why did it take until the eve of training camp to reach an agreement?
Dimitroff didn’t answer that question directly. Instead he said he never considered negotiations with agent Jimmy Sexton to be contentious and credited ... well, you can guess.
“Back to the culture and what Arthur believes and what we believe, Dan and I,” Dimitroff said. “You can have win-win solutions. They don’t have to be contentious. In the end, this worked out.”
That’s the most important thing for the Falcons. With Jones, they have realistic aspirations to play in the Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in February. Without him, the Falcons are just another team trying to go 9-7, sneak into the postseason and get lucky.
Football is a team game, but Jones is a singular player. No one has his combination of athleticism, size, strength, short-area agility and long speed.
“Sometimes there is the rare guy that has all the talent and the work ethic to go with it,” Quinn said of Jones. “When those two things are in alignment, some of the special stuff happens.”
To criticize Jones for his lack of touchdowns is to ignore his part in big plays and scores made by others because defenders were preoccupied with him. It’s also giving a pass to the coordinators who share some responsibility for his lack of touches in the red zone.
Fault Jones for dropping that pass in Philadelphia in January, but also credit him for carrying the Falcons to the Super Bowl the year before. Jones made the sensational play that should have led to victory that night, but you know what happened from there.
Jones is so important that the Falcons (rightfully) made an exception to their policy of not renegotiating a contract that has multiple years remaining. Understandably, they don’t want it framed that way.
“I know it’s semantics, but we are not looking at it as a renegotiation,” Dimitroff said. “It’s an adjustment for us, and it felt right for both parties. You take situations case-by-case.”
It turns out that, when it comes to money, some Falcons brothers deserve more attention than others. That’s just good business.
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