Old-school football types will scoff at the Falcons’ decision to pay more money to a player when the team didn’t have to Nate Hairston Jersey , but the Falcons probably would respond by saying, “We had to.”

While the details haven’t been disclosed or leaked yet (they surely will be), the Falcons did enough with Jones’ 2018 compensation to get him to show up for training camp and renew his vows with the team that made a bold move up in the 2011 draft to get him. If they hadn’t, who knows when Jones would have shown up?

That’s the message the Falcons surely gleaned by the player’s willingness to boycott training camp. As explained on Wednesday, Jones’ decision to stay away suggested a commitment to his cause that would have caused him to continue his absence into the regular season Tony Romo Jersey , showing up either after 10 weeks or not at all.

The team tried to hide behind budgetary considerations, which anyone with any real business experience knows is a flimsy excuse to not cough up cash. It’s entirely possible that, for cap purposes, the Falcons came up with a structure that keeps his number at $12.9 million. But the bottom line is that the Falcons wisely found a way to add to Jones’ bottom line.

So what about the idea that the Falcons have set a bad precedent by revising a contract that had three years remaining on it? If other Falcons players with three years left on their contracts want new deals, the Falcons merely need to say Robert Newhouse Jersey , “Play like Julio Jones and you’ll get one.”

Meanwhile, it probably didn’t help the team’s cause to announce on Wednesday that both coach Dan Quinn and G.M. Thomas Dimitroff have received new contracts despite having multiple years remaining on their current deals. If owner Arthur Blank can give them more when he technically doesn’t have to, Blank can do it with Jones as well.

And Blank did. How much more he gave Jones remains to be seen, and it inevitably will be.

The Patriots added incentives and per-game roster bonuses to tight end Rob Gronkowski‘s contract last week, which makes it two years in a row that they have sweetened the pot for one of their best players.

Gronkowski stayed away from the team during their voluntary work this offseason James Hanna Jersey , but never missed mandatory work and reported to training camp on time. With a nod to players like Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald, Gronkowski noted that holding out beyond voluntary work gets results on the contract front while saying he is content with how things have played out with the Patriots.

“I’m super satisfied with my situation,” Gronkowski said, via NESN.com. “If I wasn’t, I would try to pull a move like they did. It works out. You get rewarded for holding out. But I’m not frustrated at all or anything. I’m super satisfied and just ready to go. Ready to play. That’s my main focus.”

While it wasn’t frustrating Antonio Morrison Jersey , Gronkowski said it is “definitely a relief聽to have that all out of the way” and declared himself happy to have his focus solely on playing the Texans this weekend. Given that his new incentives are tied to playing time and production, a fast start to the year would benefit all involved.

Elie Okobo Jersey ,