Faced with a tight salary cap, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot is exploring all of his avenues, including trading wide receiver Julio Jones.
The Falcons are $915,518 under the salary cap, according to NFLPA documents, and need to clear more than $11 million in for their rookie class they are set to draft Thursday through Saturday. The rookie class slots of the picks the Falcons currently hold add up to $12.995 million.
“I really don’t want to make this about Julio,” Fontenot said during the pre-draft virtual call on Wednesday. “We hold that player in high regard, just like you guys do, just like everyone outside this building does. We hold him in high regard. The answer to that, is just pointing to the cap and pointing to the fact that we’ll answer calls on any player.
“When teams ask about players, we have to answer those calls and we have to listen because we do have to continue. ... We knew when we stepped into this that we were going to have to make tough decisions because that’s just the reality of it. That’s where we are with the salary cap.”
The Falcons could trade Jones with a post-June 1 designation and split the salary cap hit over two seasons.
Jones signed a renegotiated contract on Sept. 7, 2019, which had a $25 million signing bonus and a cash value (both contracts) of $87.026 million, according to NFLPA documents. He has a salary cap number of $23.05 million for 2021, $19.263 million in 2022 and $19.263 in 2023. As a post June 1 designation, part of the cap high could be spread over 2021 and 2022.
“We have to make some difficult decisions,” Fontenot admitted. “We have to look at all of the different options and all of the different scenarios. If someone calls about any player, we have to discuss it and do what’s right for the team. That’s what we are always going to do. We hold that player in high regard. It’s just that we have to look at every option to get where we need to get.”
Quarterback Matt Ryan, left tackle Jake Matthews and linebacker Deion Jones had their contracts restructured, but Fontenot would not say if the team attempted to restructure Jones’ deal or if they asked him to take a pay cut like they did defensive tackle Tyeler Davison and defensive end Dante Fowler.
Safety Ricardo Allen, left tackle James Carpenter and defensive end Allen Bailey were all released to create room under the salary cap. The Falcons didn’t have enough room to re-sign safeties Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee.
“I don’t want to make this about one player,” Fontenot said. “It’s not over. We are still going through this process. We want to have balance. We want to do things the right way. It’s all fluid and it’s all in the process right now.”
Jones, who turned 32 in February, was drafted with the sixth overall pick in 2011. He’s been selected to the Pro Bowl seven times. He was injured most of last season as he played just seven full games and parts of two others.
It’s unclear what the Falcons will accept in a trade for Jones.
“I don’t want to put a number on it or put a specific ... it really is just a waiting process,” Fontenot said. “I really don’t want to make it about him. I understand that he has an expensive contract and any team can look at our cap situation and understand that we’re going to have to make some decisions.
“But I don’t want to make it about that player and what we would take for him or not because, again we hold him high regard. Again, we’d accept calls on any players. We just have to weigh it and do what’s best for the organization.”
Fontenot discussed the problematic nature of restructuring contracts.
“When we restructure contracts and you have more dead money down the road, those aren’t decisions that we want to make,” Fontenot said. “We have to make some of those this year, but we want to have some balance with that. Because ... this isn’t going to be an overnight fix.”
The Falcons are projected to have $33 million in cap space in 2022 and $111 million in 2023.
“With the cap, it’s going to take time,” Fontenot said. “We want to have a healthy cap at some point, but we can’t just restructure every contract because it’s just hurting us in future years. We look at each situation and we determine how we are going to move forward, but we (must) have some balance.”
AJC’S POSITION-BY-POSITION NFL DRAFT SERIES
QUARTERBACKS: How far will Justin Fields drop in draft? | Top 10 QBs
RUNNING BACKS: Plenty of prospects to pick from | Top 10 RBs
WIDE RECEIVERS: Draft deep with talent | Top 10 WRs
TIGHT ENDS: Ability to create mismatches is key | Top 10 TEs
OFFENSIVE TACKLES: A ‘nasty’ bunch | Top 10 OTs
OFFENSIVE GUARDS/CENTERS: The men in the middle | Top 10 C/OGs
END RUSHERS: Pass on this draft stock | Top 10 DEs
DEFENSIVE TACKLES: One star among lackluster block | Top 10 DTs
LINEBACKERS: Deep class for position | Top 10 LBs
CORNERBACKS: Plethora of options for first two rounds | Top 10 CBs
SAFETIES: Falcons likely will add position player | Top 10 Safeties
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