Falcons reportedly 'uneasy' with Julio Jones' friendship with Terrell Owens
Any parent who’s ever watched his or her kid fall under the sway of a bad influence at school should be glad that at least they’re just dealing with a troubled kid, because it could be worse.
The parent could be the Atlanta Falcons and the “bad kid” could be legendary NFL malcontent Terrell Owens.
Julio Jones, the surefire Hall of Fame wide receiver who helped Atlanta jump out to a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI, catching a team-high four passes for 87 yards in the contest, has been grumbling about his contract recently.
Jones sat out all of the Falcons’ offseason activities, although he is expected to be in training camp when the summer session begins in July.
Now, it could simply be that Jones, seeing no value in risking injury during drills when he’s already playing 16 regular season games, plus playoffs, plus preseason games, simply decided to rest and heal.
Or it could be that he’s got Owens whispering in his ear and instilling toxic habits in him that will create a rift between Jones and Falcons ownership.
Falcons reporter D. Orlando Ledbetter went on WZGV-AM radio in Charlotte and told the hosts of “The Wakeup Call” morning drive-time show that relations between Jones and Falcons ownership are “in a bad place right now.”
“The fact that he’s running around with Terrell Owens has the front office uneasy,” Ledbetter said.
Furthermore, Jones reportedly wants an “adjustment” to his contract, leaving open the question of what part of an agreement signed and legally binding on both parties as a contract for services exactly needs adjusting.
What Jones wants is for the Falcons to magic more money out of the ether, which would involve tearing up the existing contract and signing him to a new, more lucrative deal.
Which, for Falcons fans, should be a source of grave concern, because down that road lies contract holdouts, acrimony and “cap management” when a team decides that a player “no longer fits our plans going forward, and we wish him the best.”
And if anyone knows that sort of trouble, it’s Owens, who managed to get himself run out of five different cities despite a career featuring six Pro Bowl appearances and five All-Pro honors culminating in a bust in Canton (not that he’ll show up for his own enshrinement).
Jones is good enough that if he really wants to turn the back end of his career into teams giving a guy with “character issues” a chance based entirely on the hope that they’ll be able to take advantage of his abilities and buy into the system, well, Randy Moss and Corey Dillon both had pretty good runs in New England, so maybe Bill Belichick can get Tom Brady another pair of hands to throw to.
But Owens, after he punked out of San Francisco, made the playoffs in only three of his last seven years in the league, and his last playoff win was the 2004 NFC championship game with the Eagles; in the last six years of his career, he never won another playoff game.
That’s the kind of legacy you leave behind when you care more about money than about loyalty and winning.
Regarding the OTAs in Atlanta, Ledbetter said, “The coach was expecting him in here. Then a few weeks later Julio informed them he’s not going to be here.”
From the sound of it, Jones’ days in Atlanta might be numbered.
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