Devonta Freeman said last month that he was "about to be blessed" with a brand-new contract from the Falcons.
Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff would like to make that happen as soon as possible for his star running back.
"That's just a few days away," Dimitroff said Monday when asked if the team could get a deal done by the start of camp on Thursday, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I've always said that I think that it's going to be a fairly expeditious negotiation, but you never know. I mean, that's a tough thing to say."
Said Dimitroff: "I would love it to happen, but if it doesn't, we're not throwing up the caution flag at all. I think we'll just work through it and continue to negotiate with [his agent]."
No matter how long it takes, it's clear the Falcons are committed to keeping Freeman around for years to come, with Dimitroff labeling the 25-year-old runner a core member of the team.
"The guys that we're assigning and we're putting legitimate, big-time contracts into, if you look at our roster, those are guys that are full-on team guys for us," Dimitroff said. "We're really proud of that. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Alex Mack, [Desmond] Trufant -- I mean, those are guys that we want to build the team around and into the future with. Guys like Devonta. Those are guys that are important, they work their butts off, they're urgent football players and they represent what we believe, so that's a good feeling for us."
A fourth-round pick in 2014, Freeman is set to earn just $1.838 million this season in the final year of his deal. After back-to-back 1,000-yard, 11-touchdown campaigns, it's just a matter of time before he's "blessed" with a long-term deal.
