The people who speak for Devonta Freeman sometimes say too much, and at the wrong times.
But Freeman himself wants it to be known he’s perfectly happy in Atlanta, and wants to stay there.
Via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, Freeman said he didn’t want to be traded away from the Falcons, despite some of the noise coming from those around him.
“This is coming out of my mouth: I definitely know I’m going to be playing for the Atlanta Falcons,” Freeman said. “This is the team I want to play for. I’m almost 100 percent for sure business will be taken care of because we’re all in this thing to win and have success.”
Of course, this is only an issue because his agent got the ball rolling with some hot-take comments during the Super Bowl, and then her husband/his mentor suggested on Twitter that Freeman should be traded if the Falcons aren’t going to pay him.
The running back is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and though he got a bump from $690,000 to $1.838 million this year, he’s still woefully underpaid after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and scoring 27 touchdowns the last two years.
“When we talk about contract, we know it’s a process,” Freeman said. “We’re not rushing to get anything done or anything like that. It’s something you work hard for and bust your butt for. Of course, anybody wants to get rewarded. But me and my team, we definitely understand it’s a process. We understand the cap and the numbers, all the stuff that comes with it.
“On our end, we’re just patient. We’re just waiting for the right time. God knows my heart. I’m definitely doing this all to take care of my family and help others and even just put my family in a better situation. It’s nothing greedy or to be super thirsty like, ‘I need this; I need that.’ I don’t play the game of football for the money. I play the game of football for the love. But fortunately, if you do good in football, you get rewarded very well.”
The Falcons have suggested they eventually want to do just that for Freeman. And he seems to get that. Others haven’t been as patient.