By Brandon Simmons
A couple of weeks ago, Julio Jones inadvertantly announced he was leaving the Atlanta Falcons and now the accidental prophecy has been fulfilled. Sunday, the Tennessee Titans traded for the wide receiver in exchange for a 2022 2nd round pick, 2023 fourth round pick and a 6th round 2023 pick. These picks are a far cry from the the 1st round pick asking price that was set out when the trade request was announced..
The trade market for Jones has been under a watchful eye since that fateful Monday. Last month, Jones was heard on Fox Sports One’s Undisputed broadcast, basically saying he was out of Atlanta. In the wake of that announcement, the Falcons put out that they were looking for nothing less than first round pick from any team looking to grab the veteran wide receiver. However, if you can believe it, there was some pushback. ESPN’ Adam Schefter reported that teams were not too thrilled about the price, and some were even waiting for it to come down. One team that really popped up on the trade’s radar was the Tennessee Titans. Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown repeatedly posting messages to his social media trying to recruit Jones. His actions probably should get some credit, in addition to the 3 lower round picks sent to Atlanta.
For the Falcons, they lose a great receiver, but it might set them up to make some solid rebuilding moves in the near future. According to Bleacher Report, Atlanta clears about $15 million in cap space, which is a great start moving forward. They still have QB Matt Ryan and wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who is quickly falling into that number one receiver role. Obviously, this is a huge deal for Tennessee for quite a few reasons. The Titans land a huge target for QB Ryan Tannehill to throw to, in addition to Brown and tight end Jonnu Smith. When it comes to the passing game, the Titans were 23rd in the league last season. Even though Jones had a down year last season, if healthy, he can deliver a huge jolt in their receiving production. In the previous 2 seasons before last year, he had nearly 3,000 receiving yards. Last year, the Jones put up 51 catches and 771 yards in only 9 games. Brown, who was the Titans’ leading receiver last season, put up only 70 catches for 1075 yards, but him and Jones still averaged around 15 yards per catch. The addition in their receiving core will take away pressure off of the running game, which will make Titans running back Derrick Henry even more dangerous. He’s already throwing around cornerbacks with his bare arm, but imagine defenses being spaced out a little more to give attention to Brown and Jones.