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.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

You aren't wining SB's with Tannehill, as in multiple, continuous contention, but that Titans team could absolutely find itself in the SB this season.

Seemingly every goddamn year there's a Tannehill-level QB in the SB.

To write them off with "oh oh oh Ryan Tannehill" i think that's silly.

Yup. The early 2000’s before the Patriots dynasty was wild. Trent Dilfer, Kerry Collins, Rich Gannon. All in the Super Bowl.

Hell Rex Grossman was in the ****ing Super Bowl

You can make it but you better have an insanely talented team

[RealSNR]

The Tits just got a whole lot scarier.

You thought they were imposing as a 9-win team? Just wait until they win 10 games this year!

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Yup. The early 2000’s before the Patriots dynasty was wild. Trent Dilfer, Kerry Collins, Rich Gannon. All in the Super Bowl.

Hell Rex Grossman was in the ****ing Super Bowl

You can make it but you better have an insanely talented team

And the Titans still have a below average defense...

[duncan_idaho]

What’s funny is seeing/hearing some Titans fans say they have a better D than KC and acting like the Chiefs OL is still a huge weakness.

I realize they added some draft picks and Bud Dupree to an absolutely awful D. That’s nice.

The Chiefs added a stud DT and have young guys poised to greatly upgrade their LB spot.

Oh, and the Chiefs D was already a LOT better.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

What’s funny is seeing/hearing some Titans fans say they have a better D than KC and acting like the Chiefs OL is still a huge weakness.

I realize they added some draft picks and Bud Dupree to an absolutely awful D. That’s nice.

The Chiefs added a stud DT and have young guys poised to greatly upgrade their LB spot.

Oh, and the Chiefs D was already a LOT better.

Exactly.

This team didn't have much of a pass rush last year and made the Super Bowl. That's the one weakness they still have.

The offensive line is going to be a huge difference maker this year, a lot of people are sleeping on this.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Exactly.

This team didn't have much of a pass rush last year and made the Super Bowl. That's the one weakness they still have.

The offensive line is going to be a huge difference maker this year, a lot of people are sleeping on this.

I’d be willing to bet that Reed improves our pass rusher more than anybody expects.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by staylor26

I’d be willing to bet that Reed improves our pass rusher more than anybody expects.

Yeah, I think so too.

I think Chris Jones on the outside creates interesting issues for opposing offenses as well.

Going to be interesting.