Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank wants Roddy White, Julio Jones to be career Falcons
Arthur Blank, who has never been shy about showing devotion to his players, recently told ESPN’s Vaughn McClure that he would like to see wide receivers Roddy White and Julio Jones play their entire careers with the Atlanta Falcons.
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When asked about negotiating extensions for both players, Blank showed no hesitation in letting his feelings be known.
“We’d love to have them both,” Blank said. “Obviously, they are at different points in their careers with us. Roddy’s 32, if I’m not mistaken. And Julio’s a much younger man (25). We want to see them both have a long career and a 100-percent career with the Atlanta Falcons.”
Falcons fans would probably love nothing more than to see the Georgia Dome’s dynamic duo playing together for many years, but sometimes the money side of the NFL makes tough decisions necessary.
White is coming into the final year of his current deal, and has a base salary of $5 million this coming season and a cap figure of $6.35 million. The Falcons have already begun negotiating a possible extension with the 4-time Pro Bowler. Any long-term extension would help lower that cap hit.
Atlanta picked up the fifth-year option on Jones deal recently, giving him a $10.7 million salary and cap it for this season.
The Falcons are known for moving on extensions for key players even before their deals are near complete, so the option pick-up for Jones doesn’t mean the team wouldn’t look to lock him down for a few more years.
“We love Roddy, and Julio as well,” Blank said, “so we’ll continue to work with them and their agents closely.”
Do you think Atlanta can afford to give extensions to both receivers? Comment below and tell us what you think.