There’s been some concern surrounding the Atlanta Falcons’ ability to retain running back Devonta Freeman over the long term. His agent sent a clear message leading up to the Super Bowl that Freeman wants to be paid elite money. A member of Freeman’s entourage, also his agent’s husband, doubled down on that recently.
But if you ask the Falcons and GM Thomas Dimitroff, there’s widespread hope that a deal can get done with Freeman here soon.
“We will address this (signing Desmond Trufant and Freeman to extensions),” Dimitroff said, via the Sporting News. “When you look at our history, we address these situations going into training camp. I’m throwing that out there as a general timeline. I don’t know when that exactly will be, but I’m confident that something can get wrapped up and he’s going to be part of us for years to come.”
It’s not yet known what Freeman is demanding. But coming off a two-year span that saw him put up over 3,200 total yards with 27 touchdowns, it has to be a whole lot of cash.
Pure conjecture here, but the five-year, $35.7 million deal Doug Martin inked with Tampa Bay last spring will likely be the starting off point. That’s a lot of cash for Atlanta to pay with fellow young stud Tevin Coleman acting as a handcuff for Freeman in the Falcons’ rushing attack.
Even then, Freeman has proven himself to be valuable on both the ground and through the air. It’s not a surprise the defending NFC champs would want to lock him up. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
Freeman is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will become a free agent following the 2017 season.