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Everyone sounds confident that Devonta Freeman will get a paid. Numerous reports suggest a deal will happen, and even Thomas Dimitroff has said he expects it to happen. The guy signing those checks thinks it will happen very soon.
Team owner Arthur Blank told 92.9 The Game he expects Freeman to sign soon, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“[Devonta Freeman] is the kind of person that you want to have on your team for all the right reasons. He’s a great player. He’s a great individual. He cares about community. He cares about his teammates. He’s very responsive to good coaching. There’s nothing about (Devonta) Freeman that I don’t love. . . . I know that Thomas is working hard with him and his agent. I feel very confident that we’ll be able to work out something with him for a long-term solution fairly soon I think.”
These are strong words of support for Freeman. He’s constantly pointed out as a top-notch teammate, and has obviously become a very important part of the offense. We generally expect Freeman to sign something north of Lamar Miller’s 4 year, $26 million contract with $14 million guaranteed.
The Falcons are a little short on cap space ($6.97 million per Over the Cap) which is not quite enough for an extension and breathing room during the season. It wouldn’t take too much work to free up a few million (RIP Brooks Reed). The Miller deal would be a great setup, because there are only two years of guaranteed salaries. If Tevin Coleman breaks out, the team can decide which running back to keep after the next two seasons.