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Atlanta Falcons News & Rumors

Julio Jones, Rest Of Falcons In Camp

June 11th, 2019 at 8:10pm CST by Micah Powell

Led by star receiver Julio Jones, all players who did not attend Falcons OTAs arrived for the first day on minicamp, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets. 

That list includes the recently franchise-tagged Grady Jarrett, defensive end Vic Beasley and linebacker Deion Jones.

In addition to arriving for mandatory minicamp, Julio Jones is not worried about his contract and is sure a new deal will get done, ESPN’s Vaughn McClure writes.

“The situation will get handled. It’s just a matter of time when they’re going to do it. Mr. Blank has spoken, so what more do I need to say or talk about?” Jones said.

McClure notes that in addition to a reworked deal for the pass-catcher, the Falcons also hope to sign Jarrett and Deion Jones to extensions. In addition to Julio not worried about his deal getting done, Falcons owner Arthur Blank sounds just as confident.

“I’m not worried about getting the deals done. I’m speaking on behalf of Atlanta and Atlanta fans. [General manager] Thomas [Dimitroff] is working hard to get them done. Coach [Dan] Quinn is supportive, as well. It will happen. It’s just a matter of when,” Blank said.

Though he did arrive at the three-day minicamp, Julio will not be participating due to a foot injury. Jones is coming off his fifth consecutive 1,400-yard campaign and led the league with 1,677 receiving yards in 2018.

Zane Beadles Retires

June 10th, 2019 at 5:32pm CST by Rory Parks

Veteran offensive lineman Zane Beadles is retiring, as Beadles himself announced on Twitter. After nine years in the league, the 2012 Pro Bowler has decided to call it a career.

Beadles, 32, entered the NFL as a second-round pick of the Broncos in the 2010 draft. He promptly became a fixture at left guard, and started all 16 games there from 2011-13.

He parlayed his strong tenure with the Broncos into a five-year, $30MM deal with the Jaguars after the 2013 season, and his streak of durability continued in Jacksonville, as he started all 16 games for the Jags from 2014-15. But he wasn’t overly effective, and Pro Football Focus ranked him as one of the worst guards in the league in 2015. Jacksonville released him in March 2016.

He quickly caught on with the 49ers and, once again, started all 16 games in the 2016 season. But in 2017, he lost his starting job, and though he played in all 16 games, he started just five, with four of those coming at right tackle as an injury replacement.

He was released by San Francisco last May and signed with the Falcons a few weeks into the 2018 campaign. He was signed to serve as an experienced backup but ended up starting the final five games for the club at right guard.

The Utah product leaves the game with no Super Bowl ring but with just shy of $24MM in career earnings. He put out the following statement on Twitter:

“I can’t thank the people who helped me get there and stay there enough for their support. I am excited for the next chapter for my family and I. I know the lessons learned living the crazy life this great game requires will propel us forward into more greatness.”

We at PFR wish Beadles the best in retirement.

Latest On Falcons’ Extension Candidates

June 5th, 2019 at 6:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

For a second straight offseason, the subject of Julio Jones‘ contract has been a key offseason Falcons talking point. But next week, the All-Pro wide receiver will be with the team when it conducts its minicamp.

Dan Quinn confirmed (via The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz, on Twitter) the ninth-year receiver will show for minicamp, which begins June 11. So will fourth-year defensive end Vic Beasley. It is not yet certain if franchise-tagged defensive tackle Grady Jarrett will join them, though Quinn anticipates he will. Skipping mandatory minicamp would cost the trio nearly $90K each.

Regardless of the statuses of Jones, Jarrett and fellow extension candidate Deion Jones, the Falcons expect to re-sign all three. He did not specify a plan for Beasley, who joined the group in staying away from Falcons OTAs.

“We have a salary cap. We have limits that we have to think about not only today but tomorrow, and we have to balance all that off,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “But these are three great young men that we care deeply about, both personally and professionally. They are going to be Falcons for life.

“I’m not worried about getting the deals done. I’m speaking on behalf of Atlanta and Atlanta fans. Thomas [Dimitroff] is working hard to get them done. Coach Quinn is supportive as well. It will happen. It’s just a matter of when.”

A new deal for Jones has been rumored for weeks now, and it will almost certainly make the 30-year-old receiver the league’s new highest-paid player at the position. Two seasons remain on the five-year, $71.25MM extension he signed in 2015. Jarrett is tethered to a $15.2MM franchise tag. Jones would have the most to gain by signing an extension before the season. The former second-round pick’s rookie deal pays him just $1.45MM. The Falcons picked up Beasley’s fifth-year option (worth $12.8MM) last year.

The Falcons, though, are light on cap space ($6.5MM, the fifth-lowest figure at the moment), so it will take some work to fulfill Blank’s vision.

Falcons Host Allen Bailey

June 5th, 2019 at 1:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Free agent Allen Bailey met with the Falcons on Wednesday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The defensive lineman previously visited the Patriots, Panthers, and Seahawks, but left each meeting without a deal. 

Bailey, a third-round pick in 2011, has spent his entire career to date with the Chiefs. In late March, we heard that the Chiefs were still open to a Bailey return, but it’s not clear if that’s still the case after they used a third-round pick on defensive tackle Khalen Saunders.

Bailey has been a starter for most of his career, including 13 regular season starts and two playoff starts last season. He finished out the year with 38 tackles, six sacks, and two forced fumbles in the regular season while recording five tackles in the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game loss to the Patriots.

The Falcons have some past experience with ex-Chiefs linemen, including Dontari Poe and Tyson Jackson.

8 NFL Teams Have Wrapped Up Their Draft Classes

June 4th, 2019 at 8:25am CST by Zachary Links

Roughly one-quarter of the NFL’s teams have signed every player in their draft class, as shown in PFR’s tracker. The front offices of the following clubs have a little bit less on their plate as mandatory minicamps get underway:

  • Cardinals
  • Falcons
  • Browns
  • Lions
  • Chiefs
  • Saints
  • Eagles
  • Steelers

While the league’s rookie slotting system has been criticized by some, there’s no denying that it has streamlined the signing process for the incoming class. Prominent first-round picks like Joey Bosa and Marcus Mariota have squabbled with teams over offset language in recent years and the third round lacks some structure due to flexibility in base salary, but, on the whole, rookies have been quicker to put pen to paper in recent years.

We’ll likely see several more teams wrap up their draft classes before the week is through. The Bills, Bengals, Cowboys, Packers, Texans, Colts, Dolphins, Vikings, Patriots, Seahawks, Titans, and Redskins each have just one straggler remaining. Unsurprisingly, most of those unsigned players are third-rounders. The Vikings are a notable exception – seventh-round pick Austin Cutting is waiting to find out whether the Air Force will permit him to play instead of immediately fulfilling his two-year service requirement.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/3/19

June 3rd, 2019 at 3:20pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

Washington Redskins

Falcons Waive S Afolabi Laguda

June 1st, 2019 at 12:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Two months after signing a two-year deal with the Falcons, safety Afolabi Laguda has been let go. The team announced today that they’ve waived the defensive back.

The six-foot-one, 214-pound safety was previously a standout at the University of Colorado, where he compiled 150 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, eight pass defenses, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in three seasons with the team. Despite his performance, Laguda went undrafted during the 2018 draft, but he quickly caught on with the Rams.

Laguda ended up having a solid preseason for Los Angeles, collecting nine tackles in three games. The team liked him enough to briefly stash him on their injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, but he was ultimately waived.

Earlier this offseason, Laguda had an audition with the Colts. However, the Falcons scooped in and ended up inking Laguda to a two-year, minimum-salary deal back in April. Atlanta already had a relatively loaded depth chart at safety, and the team also added free agent J.J. Wilcox to their corps earlier this offseason.

Four NFL Teams Set To Receive Cap Space

June 1st, 2019 at 10:15am CST by Ben Levine

Four teams are set to receive some cap space tomorrow due to post-June 1st cuts, as ESPN’s Field Yates points out on Twitter. Those clubs include:

Way back in the day, our own Luke Adams explained all of the nuances of the June 1st designation. In simplest terms, a team’s salary cap can account for a released-player’s bonuses based on two separate time periods.

If a player is designated for release prior to June 1st, the remaining bonus money is immediately added to the upcoming year’s cap. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com uses the 2013 release of Steve Breaston (Chiefs) as an example. The wide receiver only completed two years of his five-year contract, meaning he was only paid $2MM of his $5MM bonus. Therefore, since he was designated for release prior to June 1st, the remaining $3MM in bonus money was added to the Chiefs’ 2013 salary cap.

However, if the player is designated for release after June 1st, then the player’s current-year bonus remains the same for that respective year (in regards to the salary cap) . The rest of that bonus money would then be added to the following year’s cap. So, using Breaston as an example, if the Chiefs had designated him for release after June 1st, then the team would have seen his $1MM bonus money added to their salary cap in 2013. Then, in 2014, the remaining $2MM would be accounted for.

So why were teams announcing these releases prior to today? Well, the NFL allows each team to designate two players as a post-June 1st cut. This provides the player with more time to find their next gig. This was seemingly a concession by the teams, as they benefit via the salary-cap relief.

For the Bears, Chiefs, Falcons, and Panthers, this added cap space will be especially useful as they look to sign their draft picks or extend their current players. These teams could also be looking to clear some space for a free agent acquisition, as the Panthers are presumably doing for Gerald McCoy.

Beasley To Report On First Day Of Camp

May 31st, 2019 at 9:02pm CST by Micah Powell
  • Another star player confirmed he will be showing up to mandatory minicamp, ESPN’s Vaughn McClure writes. That was Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley, who did not attend OTAs. Entering the final year of his deal, Beasley is set to earn $12.8MM after the Falcons picked up his fifth-year option this offseason.

Falcons Trying Takk McKinley At LB

May 30th, 2019 at 9:54pm CST by Dallas Robinson
  • Defensive end Takkarist McKinley has been experimenting at linebacker during the Falcons‘ organized team activities, reports D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. McKinley, a first-round pick in the 2017 draft, has been lining up over the tight end on certain plays. “There will be some packages where can be a linebacker,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “The value in that (presents the question of) is he a rusher or is he a dropper?” The 23-year-old McKinley posted eight sacks and 50 pressures on 617 snaps last season.
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