It was widely reported that Julio Jones did not plan to show up to training camp with the Atlanta Falcons without a revised contract, and we’ll never know if he would have held out now that he and the team have agreed to a new deal. Naturally, Jones insists he would not have skipped work.
While discussing his contract situation on Friday, Jones downplayed the notion that a training camp holdout was imminent.
“Me and (head coach Dan Quinn), we always stayed connected,” Jones said, per a video shared by ESPN’s Vaughn McClure. “I was gonna be here. … I told him on my end what I was doing, and it was just me getting healthy and doing some stuff for me to get back right.”
More than one reputable reporter seemed convinced that Jones was not showing up without a new deal, so the star receiver was likely either bluffing or wants us to think he would not have gone that route.
In any event, the Falcons decided it was worthwhile to give Jones a bump in pay. He was originally set to make $10.5 million in 2018 and is signed through 2020, so Jones had very little leverage. Atlanta obviously felt keeping its most dangerous offensive weapon happy was an offseason priority.
