On Wednesday, July 17th, 2019 the Atlanta Falcons and the Pro Bowl as well as All Pro linebacker, Deion Jones, have come to an agreement on a contract extension. Jones’ rookie contract will be extended four years for $57 million.

This new deal included $34 million in guaranteed money, and should keep Jones with the Atlanta Falcons through the 2023 NFL season. The player has led the Falcons in tackles over the 2016 and 2017 seasons which were his first two years playing football professionally. Last year, he only played in 6 of the 16 regular season games resulting in his numbers dropping for obvious reasons.

College Career:

Jones is a native of Louisiana and naturally he attended Louisiana State University playing under head coach Les Miles. It is interesting to know that the 24 year old star linebacker in the NFL was a back up player at LSU his first three years in college.

Once Jones was named as a starter for the LSU Tigers as a senior, he had a monster year that season. During the 2015 NCAA men’s football season the all around talented linebacker racked up 100 total tackles in which 13.5 of those tackles were for a loss of yards. He recorded 5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 1 interception return for a touchdown, 3 passes defended, and 1 forced fumble. He was also a finalist for the Butkus Award for his outstanding college football season.

Atlanta Falcons:

The Atlanta Falcons selected Jones in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL draft with the 52nd overall pick. In 2016 he was elected to the NFL All Rookie Team, and in 2017 he was named to the Pro Bowl as well as the NFL All Pro Team. Jones is known for being an amazing tackler as well as one of the best coverage linebackers in the National Football League.

Regular Season Career Statistics:

  Games Def Interceptions Fumbles   Tackles    
Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Sk Comb Solo Ast TFL QBHits Sfty AV
2016 22 ATL LB 45 15 13 3 165 2 90 11 1 0 0 0 0 106 75 31 4 2 7
2017* 23 ATL LB 45 16 16 3 42 0 41 10 1.0 138 91 47 10 0 11
2018 24 ATL lb 45 6 6 2 61 1 41 6 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 53 34 19 1 0 3

Career Playoff Statistics:

  Games Def Interceptions Fumbles   Tackles  
Year Age Tm Pos G GS Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Sk Comb Solo Ast TFL QBHits Sfty
2016 22 ATL LB 3 3 1 28 0 28 3 1 0 0 0 0 15 5 2 1
2017* 23 ATL LB 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 9 4 1 0