The Julio Jones era of the Atlanta Falcons has just ended, with the franchise finally pulling the trigger on a trade deal that sent the wide receiver all the way to the AFC South and in the fold of the Tennessee Titans. This whirlwind of a trade has left several people putting the pieces together of how it came to be.
In Peter King's latest Football Morning in America piece, he revealed that there wasn't really much interesting in Jones in the market. After all, Jones comes with a huge price tag with still three years left in his current contract that would pay him $15.3 million in 2021 and $11.513 million in 2022, and $11.513 million again in 2023.
“In the end, the Falcons made a deal with the only team that was really serious about obtaining Jones. The market for Jones wasn’t as hot as the Falcons thought it would be.”
The Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots were also among the teams rumored to have checked out the possibility of trading for Julio Jones, but their interest was simply not as intense as the Titans'.
“Baltimore was interested before the draft but with Sammy Watkins arriving in free agency and Rashod Bateman and Tylan Wallace coming in rounds one and four of the draft, the Ravens dropped out. New England never had serious interest in committing $38 million to a 32-year-old receiver. Seattle was interested, but not for huge money. Tennessee was the last and best shot.”
All it took for the Titans to acquire Jones from the Falcons was a second-round pick in 2022 and a fourth-round pick in 2023. Along with Jones, the Falcons also sent a 2023 sixth-round pick to Tennessee.
The Titans now have the pressure of making things work, with an offense that's loaded with elite talent. Jones will be lining up across AJ Brown, while lurking in the backfield for the team is steamroller running back Derrick Henry.
Needless to say, Tennessee will be among the top teams to watch in the 2021 NFL season.
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