The holdout that Julio Jones has been downplaying, if not outright denying, became official this week as Jones informed the Falcons he’ll skip mandatory minicamp. When Jones signed his five-year, $71.3 million deal in 2015, he became the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver, edging out Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas. Since then, the landscape has changed. Bryant is unemployed, and Thomas is considered good but not great. Jones has gotten even better, but seven other receivers now have higher average salaries.
Jones is 29. This is almost certainly the highest long-term earning power he’ll ever have again. Some might not like that he’s acting on his leverage, but in the cutthroat NFL business, players and teams are conditioned to interpret a deal’s technicalities, not its spirit.