Devonta Freeman agrees to five-year, $41.25M extension with Falcons

By Aaron Jones
Posted Aug 9, 2017 12:24 pm EDT • Atlanta Falcons

According to NFL Network's Michael Silver, the Atlanta Falcons and RB Devonta Freeman have agreed to a five-year, $41.25M contract extension that will make him the league's highest paid running back.
Freeman posted the eighth highest overall grade among running backs in 2016 with a grade of 83.3, while fellow teammate Tevin Coleman was 16th with a grade of 79.2. Coleman bested Freeman, however, in breakaway percentage, which shows a runner's percentage of yards gained on big plays (any runs of 15 yards or more). Coleman ranked fifth with 40.5 percent of his yards coming on big runs, while Freeman ranked eighth among 53 qualifying running backs at 37.5 percent.
Freeman also ranked third among NFC running backs in yards per route run at 1.59. That ranked him only behind Cardinals RB David Johnson and teammate Coleman.