The Julio Jones run in Atlanta came to an end in June when the Falcons elected to trade him to the Tennessee Titans for a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick.
Reports suggested Jones had decided that he wanted to leave the Falcons as early as the recent offseason. However, Falcons owner Arthur Blank sees this matter from another perspective.
As he revealed to The Athletic, Blank felt that the beginning of the end for the Jones era with the Falcons began long before he officially asked to be traded earlier this year.
“Look back at the Julio situation in 2019,” Blank said. “We, being Thomas [Dimitroff], coach [Dan] Quinn, the player and his agent, were all kind of at odds with each other.
“We got a contract done. We felt it was very generous. It made him the top paid receiver in NFL history. But for whatever reason, he felt it wasn’t sufficient respect. I don’t know why he’d feel that way, but he did feel that way.”
Jones signed a three-year deal worth $66 million ahead of the 2019 season. At the time, the agreement made the seven-time Pro Bowler the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL thanks to his $22 million average annual value deal.
Even after coming to terms with him on a grand multiyear extension deal, Blank firmly believes the relationship that Jones had with the Falcons front office went downhill following the arduous contract talks.
“It changed,” Blank said. “And if you spoke to the players on the team, not that they would say anything, but I think they would tell you the same thing.
“Look, he gave us 10 great years. He’s going to be a Hall of Fame player. He was a good teammate for all that period of time. His ability or willingness to practice the way he did early in his career was different. There were some people who were in the building who had an effect on him. He wanted out.
Blank noted in July that he was “disappointed” over the decision from Jones to request a trade in the offseason. But in the end, Atlanta did not want to keep a player who simply had no ambition to be with the team anymore.
The Falcons will now look to Calvin Ridley as their new No. 1 wideout option, while Jones is set to feature alongside A.J. Brown and Tennessee's formidable wide receiver corps this season.
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