Maybe it was just happenstance. The Atlanta Falcons wanted to start training camp on a cheery note, so they targeted the morning before players report as the ideal moment to inform the watching world that the contracts of coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff have been extended through 2022 season, which is a long time. (That's five more years – less than U.S. Senator but better than a President.)
As it happened, the Falcons’ summer convocation is now destined to be known as Camp No Julio, which is no fun for anyone. (Unless Julio Jones gets everything he wants, contract-wise, and gets to miss a few weeks in the heat to boot. For No. 11, that’d be a win-win.) And go back to the new date when the contracts of DQ and TD lapse – 2022. Jones’ current deal runs through 2020.
I say again: I could be reading too much into it – that happens sometimes – but the Falcons, regardless of the intent, did just send this message: “We believe in this front office.” Indeed, the emailed release and accompanying slideshow included “team-builders,” or some form thereof, six times; “Brotherhood” was used only three times, once in a Quinn quote.
Invoking the royal “we,” Arthur Blank offered this moment of self-congratulation: "The partnership between Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff has proven to be as successful as we imagined back in 2015.” And nobody – not even this correspondent, who felt such a forced pairing would end in tears – can dispute that. The Falcons are really good. They could win a Super Bowl. They should have won a Super Bowl already, but let’s not cry over spilled 28-3 leads. They’ve drafted well. Sometimes they’ve coached well.
Above all, they’ve built – apologies for poaching the day’s buzzwords – a team. They aren’t many rosters you’d take over this. Heck, they’ve even got Julio’s replacement in their building. (Calvin Ridley, also from Alabama.) I cannot quibble with Quinn’s capacity to serve as Football Czar, nor can I fault anything Dimitroff has done since being bumped down to facilitator. They’ve done splendid work. Dual kudos.
To say what they’ve created goes beyond any player would be incorrect: Matt Ryan is the third member of this triumvirate. If he decided to quit football tomorrow, the Brotherhood would be reduced to, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” This the NFL. Quarterbacks matter more. Beyond that, though …
In the final days of Mike Smith, the Falcons had become a two-man team – Ryan and Jones. (Three if you counted Desmond Trufant, then seen as a rising star.) DQ and TD have fleshed out the roster. Would the Falcons be as good without Julio? No. Would they drop to 6-10? Also no. He caught three touchdown passes last season; they went 10-6, won a playoff game and coulda/shoulda played for the NFC title.
He’s a great receiver, possibly the NFL’s best receiver. The Falcons desperately want him to play for them in 2018 and beyond. But news of these non-player coaching extensions served to steal the focus, at least for one day, from a guy not expected to grace Hall County anytime soon. “Quinn and Dimitroff are here for the long haul,” the subtext seemed to read, “and we trust them to what’s right for the franchise over that continuum, not just the next six months.”
This isn’t to suggest that Quinn and Dimitroff don’t love Julio Jones. Quinn calls him “Ju” (pronounced “Hoo”), as if “Julio” wasn’t endearing enough. The first paragraph of Dimitroff’s obituary – not to get morbid; he seems in fine fettle – will include, “In the 2011 NFL draft, he traded five picks to move up 21 spots to take Julio Jones.” Still, it’s clear that DQ/TD have chosen to hold the line when it comes to renegotiation. If they hadn’t, the Falcons would have trumpeted Jones’ new deal along with Quinn’s and Dimitroff’s.
With a major holdout looming, the impression left by Wednesday’s announcement was apropos. The Falcons are an organization, and they’re pleased with it stewards. This franchise isn’t about to fold its tent – the one bearing the words “Ball/Battle/Brotherhood” – because one guy wants more money. A marquee name might be missing, but this show will go on.
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