On Monday morning, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the Falcons are fielding trade calls for Julio Jones, and doubled down on those reports Monday afternoon.
“That Julio Jones contract, which is great for him, is one of the worst contracts I’ve ever seen for a team. It really has helped their salary cap explode so much, so that they need to create room just to sign their draft picks,” stated Rapoport on NFL Total Access.
Steve Wyche, National Contributor for the Atlanta Falcons and NFL Network TV analyst, echoed the earlier reports from Rapoport that the Falcons are indeed taking calls from teams inquiring about Jones.
“Teams have called about potentially trading the franchise wide receiver,” confirmed Wyche. He also reiterated that this trade could come solely as a need to clear cap space. The Falcons currently have $929,851 of cap space left, which is only 13 percent of the projected cap space needed to sign this years rookie class. “The Falcons cap situation is absolutely captivating right now,” Wyche continued.
| Cap Hit | Savings Pre-June 1 | Savings Post-June 1 | |
| Julio Jones | $23,050,000 | ($200,000) | $15,300,000 |
The Falcons trading Jones now makes the most sense as they would be saving $4 million less in 2022 and 2023, as opposed to trading Jones away in 2021. For points of notice, teams would need to have the allotted cap space of $15 million and be in need of a receiver now. With three seasons remaining on his current contract, Jones base salary would cost a team a combined $38,326,000. Only $17,300,000 million of that salary is guaranteed though.
Of course, the Falcons wouldn’t get any of those savings until after June 1, but a deal can be worked out beforehand and finalized afterwards. However, this would only be for future draft picks. Despite this, trading Jones would certainly influence where the Falcons go in the draft, and would make Kyle Pitts at No. 4 much more reasonable.
Not only Pitts, but Ja’Marr Chase becomes a heightened candidate as well — a player with very little likelihood of going to Atlanta prior to these reports. A deal would be very difficult for the Falcons to pull off, but not impossible.
Hear Wyche’s full statements on NFL Network via his Twitter.
My @AtlantaFalcons report on their No. 4 draft pick and the Julio Jones situation @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/QkRdWEUr3j
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) April 26, 2021
