GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Atlanta Falcons agreed on a contract Friday with first-round draft pick T.J. Duckett, ending the running back's nine-day holdout.
Duckett's agent, Joel Segal, flew into Greenville Thursday night, and the two parties met for nearly three hours before finishing the parameters on the contract Friday.
As late as Thursday afternoon, Falcons chief administrative officer Ray Anderson had described the negotiations as stalled. Segal agreed to his first face-to-face meeting regarding the No. 18 overall pick when the Falcons agreed to offer more guaranteed money than Oakland will play cornerback Phillip Buchanon, the No. 17 selection.
At the same time, the Falcons were unwilling to pay Duckett more than running back William Green, the No. 16 overall pick, will receive from the Cleveland Browns.
Green was paid a $4.1 million signing bonus and is guaranteed an additional $1.8 in salaries and bonuses. Buchanon received $4 million in signing bonus with a guarantee of another $900,000.
Anderson said negotiations moved better once Segal acknowledged that Green's contract was an aberration. Exact details of Duckett's contract were not immediately released.
He was to report to training camp on Friday night and practice Saturday morning.
Duckett was attacked on July 23 after attending a concert in Ionia, Mich. No arrests have been made in the case. Sheriff Dwain Dennis declined to say whether his office would recommend any charges.
According to a report filed by the sheriff's department, Duckett was crossing a footbridge after the show when three white men in their early 20s blocked his path. The report said the men used a racial epithet when calling out to Duckett, who is black. Duckett was struck in the mouth with a bottle and lost a tooth. He also suffered lacerations on his face that required stitches.
Duckett told sheriff's deputies that he fought off the men and called 911.
``He went through a very difficult couple of weeks personally with that incident that occurred,'' Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. ``For a young man to handle it as well as he did, that's the kind of person that he is.''
Segal could not be reached for comment.
The 6-foot, 254-pound Duckett, who left Michigan State after his junior year, will not participate in the goal-line drills the planned for Saturday.
``The main thing you don't want to do is put him in there too soon, so we've just got to see how he feels and so forth,'' coach Dan Reeves said. ``When people do report late and they do get injured, it's always a big story. There's a lot of guys who report on time who get injured also. We're just hoping he has a great career. We have high hopes for him or we wouldn't have drafted him.''
Thursday
January 30th, 2025
4:40PM
