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Fans want two things from the depth on this team: Quality and cheap contracts. We can quibble with the first point in the cases of Peria Jerry and Javier Arenas, but not the second, per Vaughn McClure and D. Orlando Ledbetter:
#Falcons CB Javier Arenas contract numbers: $730,000 base, $65,000 signing bonus on 1-year deal, according to NFLPA documents.
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@AJCFalcons) March 20, 2014
Peria Jerry's base salary this season on one-year deal is $730,000. Last year, it was $905,000.
— vaughn mcclure (@vxmcclure23) March 20, 2014
#Falcons DT/DE Peria Jerry signed a 1 year, $890,000 contract, according to NFLPA documents.
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@AJCFalcons) March 20, 2014
Jerry took a haircut because he had no market. The Falcons re-signed him as cheap veteran depth, and they'll want to see whether he can offer anything worthwhile with Corey Peters possibly missing the beginning of the season. If not, it'll cost them basically nothing to cut him, and I still suspect that outcome will be on the table. As of now, though, it's not a stretch to suggest he'll be behind Jonathan Babineaux, Tyson Jackson and Malliciah Goodman at defensive end in 3-4 looks.
Arenas is here on a very reasonable deal for a fourth or fifth cornerback and possible returner. I'm not a huge fan of either of these players, but you build depth as cheaply as possible, and for veterans it doesn't get much cheaper than this. There are basically no guarantees implied in either of these contracts, so we have to hope that if they don't step up, loyalty to formerly draft players won't mean a damn thing.
Thoughts on these contracts?