Falcons aiming to extend Julio Jones before start of season

The Atlanta Falcons have yet to sign Julio Jones to a new megadeal, but the team is hoping negotiations will be completed by Week 1.

"We'll have to let things take their course," Falcons owner Arthur Blank told D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I know that we are definitely in serious negotiations. It's our goal and their goal as well to get it done before the start of the season."

The Falcons are set to begin the regular season Sept. 8 on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.

Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in early August that he believed Jones "should be" the league's highest-paid receiver, adding that he wasn't worried about the protracted talks for a new contract.

While Blank acknowledged negotiations have stretched on further than the Falcons would've liked, he emphasized that he never wants to see the All-Pro wideout in another team's uniform.

"I've said this publicly and privately to Julio and Julio has said the same thing to me, both privately and publicly," Blank said. "We expect Julio to be a Falcon for life and we have no reason to think that's going to change at all.

"The negotiations continue to move along in a positive way. It's a big contract and it's complex and what have you. It takes a little more time than we'd like. Probably a little more time than he would like, but I know we are in a good place."

The New Orleans Saints pushed the ceiling of the receiver market by giving Michael Thomas a reported five-year, $100-million extension with $61 million in guarantees at the end of July.

Jones has accrued the second-most receiving yards in the league since being drafted No. 6 in the 2011 draft and is likely to set a new record for receiver contracts whenever he puts pen to paper.