Falcons WR Julio Jones set to sign 3-yr, $66M deal

There was no holdout and little drama.

Julio Jones trusted in Falcons owner Arthur Blank's word that the game-changing wide receiver would get a new contract.

On Saturday, Jones' shiny new deal came to fruition as the wide receiver and the Falcons agreed on a three-year, $66 million extension, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per league sources. The $22 million per season makes Jones the highest-paid receiver in the game on average. Rapoport reports of the $66 million, a whopping $64 million is guaranteed. The team confirmed the signing.

Up until penning his now current contract, Jones had two years remaining on his Falcons deal and was due $9.6 million and $11.426 million in each of the next seasons, respectively. It combined to give him an average per-season salary out of the top 10 for receivers.

The 30-year-old wideout has been regarded as one of the NFL's elite receivers for quite some time and now he'll once again be paid as such.

Jones is coming off a 2018 campaign in which he led the NFL with 1,677 yards receiving, earning him a fifth-straight trip to the Pro Bowl and the sixth bid overall in his eight-season career. It was likewise the fifth consecutive 1,000-yard year for Jones, who has six in total for the Falcons.

Before this offseason even began, two of the very best wide receivers in the NFL played within the NFC South.

After Saints star Michael Thomas netted a five-year, $100 million deal on July 31 and Jones followed with his mega payday, two of the highest-paid wide receivers in the NFL play within the NFC South.

Now the two will look to lead their teams to NFC South crowns and perhaps beyond.

On the horizon for Jones, he's a near lock for a pair of milestones this year as he enters the season two catches away from 700 in his career and 269 yards away from 11,000 yards receiving.

While there were certainly myriad questions through the offseason in regards to when Jones and the Falcons would finalize the extension, from the outside it never appeared to be a large distraction or hindrance for Atlanta. That's likely because this isn't the first time the two parties have put pen to paper for a new contract.

In the summer of 2018, the Falcons and Jones agreed to a revised contract. Prior to that in the summer of 2015, Jones signed a previous extension for five years that came on the heels of a Blank pledge to make the receiver a Falcon for life.

At least for now, Jones is headed down that road, with his latest and biggest contract serving up further evidence of the Falcons' commitment to the wideout and his to them.