Over the years, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has been reluctant to comment on his teammates’ business situation with the team.
But he clearly is not ready to deal with what life without Julio Jones would look like.
“I don’t know,” Ryan said. “He’s been such a cornerstone of what we’ve done for a long time. I don’t know. That’s a hypothetical and I don’t really want to go down that road. Not really my business.”
Jones was drafted sixth overall in 2011 and the seven-time Pro Bowl receiver has been a mainstay of the offense. Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said that the team, which is in a difficult salary-cap situation, will answer calls about any players.
Trading Jones would not go over well with Ryan.
“He’s been just such a great player,” Ryan said. “He’s a helluva teammate. I love him and we’ll see how things shake out. He’s probably impacted my career more significantly than any other player. I’ve been really fortunate to be around him for as long as I have.”
The Falcons are $588,018 under the salary cap, according to NFLPA documents. They could create room and spread out the salary-cap hit by make the deal a with a post-June 1 designation.
“Listen, I love Julio,” Ryan said. “I’ve been so lucky to play with him for the past decade and he’s an unbelievable player. I don’t get involved in this side of it, from a teammate and player standpoint, he’s my teammate. He’s my guy.
“You let the other side of it shake out how it is. I know that he’s always ready to go. He’s an incredible competitor and one of the best ever to do it at his position. He’ll have himself ready to go, there is no question about that.”
Ryan hasn’t allowed himself to think of an offense with Jones, Kyle Pitts, Calvin Ridley and the rest of their weapons.
“We’re really at the beginning of this,” Ryan said. “We are making sure we can get lined up in our formations. Making sure that we understand what routes we have on certain concepts.
“I’m excited for the guys that we have in the building for sure. I feel like there are guys that are highly competitive that want to win football games. I’m excited about that from that standpoint, but we have a long way to go.”
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