Falcons general manger Thomas Dimitroff remains optimistic that the team can reach an amicable contract extension with Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman.
“Devonta, right now, we’ve had some good conversations over the offseason,” Dimitroff said on Monday at a community service appearance at East Lake YMCA. “I’ve talked to him on the field a number of times. He’s in a good place.
“We’ve had discussions with his agent. As a matter of fact, we will be focusing on that 100 percent here in the next few days. We are in a spot where we are really focused on sitting down and discussing where we are.”
With the offseason moves of Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Marshawn Lynch and Eddie Lacy, who all essentially signed one-year deals, there is not a robust market for running back contracts.
The Falcons negotiations will be complicated by Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell’s decision to reject a five-year, $60 million contact offer. He’ll play this season for the franchise tag of $12.12 million. Currently, Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy has the highest running back contract, a five-year $40 million deal he signed on March 8, 2015.
Freeman’s representation indicated that expected him to sign an “elite” contract.
“Making sure that we are now re-creating a market, that’s not what we are talking about here,” Dimitroff said. “We are talking about making sure that we talk about having him here for a number of years because he’s a very important part of this organization. So, I haven’t put a time frame on it.”
The Falcons report for training camp on Wednesday. Dimitroff wouldn’t rule out having a deal done before the first practice on Thursday, but was not overly optimistic.
“That’s just a few days away and I’ve always said that I think it’s going to be a fairly expeditious negotiation, but you never know,” Dimitroff said. “I would love for it to happen, but if it doesn’t we’re not throwing up the caution flag at all. We’ll just continue to work through it. We’ll continue to negotiate with (Freeman’s agent) Kristen (Campbell).”
Freeman has clearly out-performed his fourth-round draft status, but the Falcons have a running back by committee approach with Tevin Coleman. They don’t appear to be in a position to put Freeman at or near the top the market.
Tampa Bay’s Doug Martin (five-year, $35.75 million, $15 million guaranteed), Houston’s Lamar Miller (four years, $26 million, $14 million guaranteed) and Jacksonville’s Chris Ivory (five years, $32 million, $10 million guaranteed) are comparable deals the Falcons will research.
“Because from the team’s perspective, you look at Doug Martin, Lamar Miller (and) Chris Ivory,” said Joel Corry, a former agent and CBSSports.com analyst. “That’s what you are looking at. Because the top of the market on a long-term deal is LeSean McCoy. But if I’m the agent, as far as the agent should be concerned, the rejected offer of Le’Veon Bell is in the market place.
“That’s a tough sell, but that’s what the agent should be pushing for. He rejected basically $60 million over five years. That’s what the value of what an ‘elite’ running back is and then you try to work and try to piggy-back off of that. That’s easier said than done, but that’s what the agent should be trying to do.”
The Falcons, under Dimitroff, have made it a practice of extending the contracts of players they like and consider cornerstones of the franchise.
“You’ve seen in the past where the guys that we’ve signed are really big-time contributors to our team,” Dimitroff said. “Where we have taken care of them before training camp or while training camp is or in the (exhibition) season, not the third game in the regular season, but (exhibition) season. Hopefully, we can get something done. I feel very confidently that we can. He’s got intelligent representation and we communicate well. We’ll see how that plays out.”
The Falcons also have to consider the long-term ramifications of giving Freeman an extension. Running back Tevin Coleman is set to enter his third year and most teams don’t pay two running backs hefty contracts.
“They also have an option because I’ve talked to people who think Coleman…Some teams that I’ve talked to think he’s….they’d rather have him than Freeman,” Corry said. “If the preferred back is your backup, how much should you really pay your starter? I don’t know if that is the consensus around the league, but most teams when they have a viable backup they used that guy as leverage in negotiations. The team may say they are not, but anytime the team has something that they can use as a mitigating factor to get a guy cheaper, they will.”
The Falcons appear ready to make a deal.
“The guys that we are signing, putting legitimate big-time contracts into, if you look at our roster, those are the guys that are full-on team guys,” Dimitroff said. “We are really proud of that. Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Alex Mack (and Desmond) Trufant. Those are the guys that we want to build the team around and into the future with guys like Devonta (Freeman). Those are the guys who are important, they are urgent football players and they represent what we believe and that’s a good feeling for us.”
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