Falcons taking calls on Julio Jones

[Dante84]

A hamstring injury limited Jones to just nine games last season, though he still put up strong numbers when he was on the field. He caught 51 passes for 771 yards and three scores as the Falcons finished the year 4-12. From 2014-19, Jones missed only four games and averaged 104 catches and 1,564 yards per season. SI Link.

The #Falcons have received calls from teams inquiring about possible trades for All-Pro WR Julio Jones, sources say. A trade could not happen for cap reasons before June 1, but teams know Atlanta’s brutal cap situation and are calling. A deal won’t happen now, but later? Maybe.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 26, 2021

From NFL Now: The #Falcons have been receiving calls on All-Pro WR Julio Jones, and while it's somewhat unlikely they get the value they would want, it's not impossible. A look at how it would work... pic.twitter.com/kZArO6t578

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 26, 2021

The #Falcons have been listening to trade offers for star WR Julio Jones, per @peter_king and @AlbertBreer. Atlanta has one of the worst cap situations in the league and trading Julio effective after June 1st would create $15M in cap space and save the big dead cap hit for 2022.

— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) April 26, 2021

From Peter King:

Surprises? Keep an eye on Atlanta. I can’t predict any bombshells. But a few things would not surprise me. Most notably, the Falcons putting the framework of a trade together for star wideout Julio Jones, and making the trade effective June 2. That way, Atlanta could split Jones’ cap charge between 2021 and 2022 instead of getting bashed with it all this year. So if such a trade happens, I expect it could involve a future pick or picks, nothing this year. (A future second-round pick as compensation seems fair to me.) Because such a trade wouldn’t be official till June, no picks in this draft could be involved. As for the interested team or teams, I would guess Las Vegas; Jon Gruden couldn’t resist Antonio Brown, and I doubt he could resist Julio Jones. New England too, and a couple of teams with clear receiver needs—Tennessee and Baltimore.

Now, the Falcons don’t really want to trade Julio Jones. He’s a franchise legend. But he’s 32, entering his 11th season, coming off a banged-up year with seven games missed due to injury, and the Falcons are in cap jail. If they could off-load his money and cushion it by splitting it between this year ($7.75 million) and next ($15.5 million), Atlanta’s cap charge on Jones this year goes down by a tad more than $15 million.

One final note here, to be very clear: I am not reporting the Falcons will trade Jones, or will probably trade Jones. I am saying it would not surprise me if it happened.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by O.city

I don't disagree.

But they all in fact had careers cut short due to injury.

Older players get hurt.

And those injuries, combined with their compensation, had a direct affect on the number of playoff games they didn't win.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by O.city

I don't disagree.

But they all in fact had careers cut short due to injury.

Older players get hurt.

I mean, sure they had Tom Brady but the Patriots built the team around him by letting guys like this GO.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by ForeverIowan

According to a lot of you on here taking the below players on the "back end" of their careers were "crap moves". SMGDH.

Marcus Allen
Joe Montana
Trent Green
Priest Holmes
Willie Roaf

The Falcons making a move for Tony Gonzalez at age 33 what a dog crap move!

Gonzalez was rarely out with an injury. Jones on the other hand? It seems you are enamored more with the Julio Jones name at this point as his performance on the field.

[ForeverIowan]

I never claimed to be a cap expert. We were ready to make Trent Williams the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history. Oh by the way Trent Williams is ALSO 32 years old and also has an injury history. Seems Brett Veach has the balls to take a gamble on a generational talent. I personally would be willing to take a chance on what I consider the best wide receiver of his era going after Super Bowl rings the last few years of his career. I'll leave it at that.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by ForeverIowan

I never claimed to be a cap expert. We were ready to make Trent Williams the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history. Oh by the way Trent Williams is ALSO 32 years old and also has an injury history. Seems Brett Veach has the balls to take a gamble on a generational talent. I personally would be willing to take a chance on what I consider the best wide receiver of his era going after Super Bowl rings the last few years of his career. I'll leave it at that.

Needing a LT to protect #15 when we had no solid one on the roster is far different than an oft injured WR who would be paid like a #1 WR while being option #3.

[Wallcrawler]

Do we really miss Sammy Watkins on the injury report so badly that people actually are willing to pay double to keep the spot in the injury report filled?

Guys, come ON. We need a receiver that's actually going to play football games.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by tredadda

Needing a LT to protect #15 when we had no solid one on the roster is far different than an oft injured WR who would be paid like a #1 WR while being option #3.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by Wallcrawler

Do we really miss Sammy Watkins on the injury report so badly that people actually are willing to pay double to keep the spot in the injury report filled?

Guys, come ON. We need a receiver that's actually going to play football games.

And exactly.

[ForeverIowan]

Crazy how Julio put up HOF numbers and has widely been considered THE best WR in the game for the better part of the past decade when he was always injured and never EVER on the field. That is extremely hard to do when you are always injured. Lets compare the first ballot HOFer to Sammy freaking Watkins.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by ForeverIowan

Crazy how Julio put up HOF numbers and has widely been considered THE best WR in the game for the better part of the past decade when he was always injured and never EVER on the field. That is extremely hard to do when you are always injured. Lets compare the first ballot HOFer to Sammy freaking Watkins.

Have you even read the responses?

Nobody said he wasn't on the field. He's played through nagging injuries nearly every season.

But he's also 32 years old. He won't be able to play through injuries forever.

Jones is the very definition of "buy high, sell low". It's a TERRIBLE investment at $15M guaranteed. It would be absolutely stupid to do.

[Rainbarrel]

He doesn't need a ring to get the gold jacket. Stats to compare to other HOFers is more likely the goal. KC has too many other mouths to feed to pad his stats.

[Chris Meck]

Guys, it's like this:

If Mahomes was 40, and we were trying to make one last run, then yeah, maybe you look at paying Jones to help get you over the top. You know you're probably about to do a total rebuild, and this is last hurrah time.

Mahomes is 25; and if you're smart about things, you can extend this Super Bowl window indefinitely without screwing yourself.

You don't pay Jones #1 money at his age to come here and be the #3 option and hope he stays healthy. You still have Hill, Kelce, and Hardman. You have some JAGS who know the offense. You've rebuilt the offensive line from offensive to stellar, and in so you'll be able to properly utilize last year's number one pick, Clyde, better.

What you need to do is start restocking with younger talent at WR to help you some this year, and develop them into tomorrow's stars as Hill and Kelce decline.

#3 option is not a place to spend a ton of money; but drafting a WR in the second round that may one day be option #1 or #2 is a good place to put draft capital.

You want an over 30 player coming off injury that makes more sense? Sign Ingram to be part of your LDE situation. And STILL draft a guy, too.

[O.city]

If they cut him and you could sign him to a nice contract, sure. Go for it.

Or if he'd restructure and you could give up a 4th for him.

But trading a high pick and taking on that salary? nah.

[Dante84]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Guys, it's like this:

If Mahomes was 40, and we were trying to make one last run, then yeah, maybe you look at paying Jones to help get you over the top. You know you're probably about to do a total rebuild, and this is last hurrah time.

Mahomes is 25; and if you're smart about things, you can extend this Super Bowl window indefinitely without screwing yourself.

You don't pay Jones #1 money at his age to come here and be the #3 option and hope he stays healthy. You still have Hill, Kelce, and Hardman. You have some JAGS who know the offense. You've rebuilt the offensive line from offensive to stellar, and in so you'll be able to properly utilize last year's number one pick, Clyde, better.

What you need to do is start restocking with younger talent at WR to help you some this year, and develop them into tomorrow's stars as Hill and Kelce decline.

#3 option is not a place to spend a ton of money; but drafting a WR in the second round that may one day be option #1 or #2 is a good place to put draft capital.

You want an over 30 player coming off injury that makes more sense? Sign Ingram to be part of your LDE situation. And STILL draft a guy, too.

Yep, fair enough - I've evolved, and now that's where I land, with one major caveat: If Veach is game, I'm game.

That said, historically, Veach's bread and butter move is all about value. Guys who are talented, but down and out and therefore inexpensive. 1st round cast-aways. Ragland, Baker, Callaway etc...

His other move is to secure talent when its available on the open market at a discount because of our ability to compete for rings. McCoy, Bell, etc...

Occasionally, he will make splash moves like Matheiu, Clark, Watkins, Hitchens, and now OBJ - those players were for the most part entering their early prime or mid prime. The only departure from that would have been Trent Williams, given his age. Thankfully, it didn't pan out.

Injuries, Age, and Elite Talent considerations aside, given JJ's price tag, I think it's a non-starter for Veach.

It is fun to dream, though.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Yep, fair enough - I've evolved, and now that's where I land, with one major caveat: If Veach is game, I'm game.

That said, historically, Veach's bread and butter move is all about value. Guys who are talented, but down and out and therefore inexpensive. 1st round cast-aways. Ragland, Baker, Callaway etc...

His other move is to secure talent when its available on the open market at a discount because of our ability to compete for rings. McCoy, Bell, etc...

Occasionally, he will make splash moves like Matheiu, Clark, Watkins, Hitchens, and now OBJ - those players were for the most part entering their early prime or mid prime. The only departure from that would have been Trent Williams, given his age. Thankfully, it didn't pan out.

Injuries, Age, and Elite Talent considerations aside, given JJ's price tag, I think it's a non-starter for Veach.

It is fun to dream, though.

Good post.

[ChiefBlueCFC]

Have we traded for this peace of shit yet