Add Michael Vick to the name of former Falcons players who think Julio Jones deserves a raise.

"To my knowledge, Julio is holding out for a bigger contract and Julio deserves it," Vick told D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. "Julio and Matt [Ryan] are the ultimate combination. They just paid Matt and I think Julio should get everything that he deserves, too."

In May, Ryan inked a $150 million extension making him the NFL's highest-paid quarterback. Jones, meanwhile, signed a five-year, $71.25 million contract extension in August 2015 (including $47 million guaranteed) that now makes him ninth in average annual salary among all wideouts.

Jones has been absent from the Falcons' offseason workouts.

"He'll be professional," Vick said. "He'll go about it the right way. But you know, this is a grown man who has (surpassed) expectations even though everyone expected him to be great and this guy continues to get it done for the Falcons. I think he is a guy that Matt Ryan has to have."

Last month, Roddy White, Jones' teammate in Atlanta who retired after the 2015 season, said Jones deserved to be paid more than Antonio Brown, the league's highest-paid receiver.

"It's a tough situation, especially for [Jones] because he just signed a deal three years ago," White told ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure at the time, "but the numbers would tell you he's way, way, way outplayed being paid the amount of money that they've given him.

"A lot of times, you don't want to rub people the wrong way. On the other hand, when people look at the numbers and start stacking them up against people that are making more money than him, then it verifies that he should be paid a lot more money. Yes, he deserves to be the highest-paid [receiver]. I think he does, based on performance. For me, that's a no-brainer."

A season ago, Brown had 101 receptions for 1,533 yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games. He was the NFL's most efficient wideout, according to Football Outsiders' metrics. Jones wasn't far behind; he had 88 catches for 1,444 yards but had just three touchdowns in 16 starts. He ranked sixth in efficiency behind Brown, Marvin Jones, Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins and Michael Thomas.

The '17 season was also Jones' least productive since 2013; in 2016 he averaged 17.0 yards per reception and scored six times; in 2015 he had a whopping 136 receptions for 1,871 yards and had 104 receptions the season before that. Still, Jones is the centerpiece of the Falcons' downfield attack, one that starts with Ryan and now includes rookie first-rounder Calvin Ridley.

Meanwhile, Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff explained in a June statement where things stand between the organization and Jones.

"We have been in contact with Julio and his representation," Dimitroff said. "We will not discuss those conversations publicly except to say we feel they have been productive and constructive. We understand the concerns and thoughts from their perspective. Although not ideal, Julio informed us today he would not be attending minicamp."

Back in May, Jones told TMZ that his absence this offseason wasn't even about money.

"It's not even about [my contract]," Jones said at the time. "Everybody wants a story right now. There's no story to be told. I'm just working. I'm getting myself better. I'm just working on myself right now. There's no bad blood between me and the team or anything like that. Everybody on the outside trying to look in and destroy what we built there."

Jones has spent part of the offseason working out with Terrell Owens, a development that reportedly didn't sit well with the Falcons.

"The fact that he's running around with Terrell Owens has the front office uneasy," Ledbetter said during a recent radio appearance on ESPN Charlotte. "The fact that he held out and is bucking the whole 'brotherhood' thing has them a little bit uneasy too. They'll have to mend some fences, no question about it, once he returns."

Falcons players report to training camp on July 26.