Falcons GM ‘confident’ Devonta Freeman extension will get done

Devonta Freeman has affirmed himself as one of the NFL’s marquee running backs, and it sounds like his Atlanta Falcons are ready to pay him as such.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff appeared on SiriusXM Radio’s “Schein on Sports” on Friday and spoke optimistically about extension talks with the two-time Pro Bowler.

“Like I’ve said before, we want him here and he’s a very important part of our organization,” Dimitroff said, according to Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. “Contrary to what people were saying around the Super Bowl time with what came out, we’re ready in the relatively near future to have some discussions with their representation.

“Devonta, he’s a really good guy, he’s really — as far as his personality — he’s so hyper competitive,” Dimitroff continued. “He’s an urgent, angry runner, which we want and we know is important for us. We want him to be around for years to come and we’re confident that we’ll be able to get it done.”

Freeman, 25, played in all 16 games for Atlanta last season, rushing for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns and helping lead the team to a Super Bowl berth. He’s coming into the final year of his rookie deal and is currently set to make less than $1.8 million in 2017. Freeman already sounds like he’ll be playing with an added edge this coming season and getting contract talks out of the way before it begins would be a big plus for everybody involved.