Julio Jones trade grades for Titans, Falcons in blockbuster deal

Julio Jones will be suiting up for the Titans as the All-Pro has been traded to Tennessee by the Falcons. Grading the blockbuster deal for both teams. 

One of the best wide receivers of the last decade in the NFL will be suiting up for a different team than the one that drafted him in the top 10 in 2011 for the first time starting this season and moving forward. The Tennessee Titans are the winners of the Julio Jones sweepstakes, completing a trade for the All-Pro pass-catcher on Sunday with the Atlanta Falcons. The news was first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Jones is heading to the Titans along with a sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft as Tennessee sends a second-round pick in 2022 along with a fourth-rounder in 2023 to the Falcons. Atlanta’s big incentive in the trade was to unload the receiver’s massive salary, which they do as Tennessee will take on $15.3 million in 2021 and the rest of the contract while Atlanta only incurs a $7.75 million dead cap hit this season.

Throughout the reports and speculation regarding a Julio Jones trade, the Titans were one of the teams that never left the conversation. And now they have an elite 32-year-old pass-catcher to join A.J. Brown, quarterback Ryan Tannehill and running back Derrick Henry.

But who won the trade — or at least how did each of the two teams involved fare in making this blockbuster deal? Let’s break that down and hand out a grade to both the Titans and Falcons for the Julio Jones trade.

Grading the Julio Jones trade for the Tennessee Titans

While understanding the inherent risk of taking on an expensive 32-year-old wide receiver and, in order to make that happen, having to work with some contract restructures to push money down the road, it’s hard to not see this as a definitive win for Tennessee.

A.J. Brown has quickly established himself as a top-tier wide receiver in the league but, after Corey Davis and Jonnu Smith were lost in free agency, he was a man on an island in the Titans passing offense, even after signing Josh Reynolds and drafting Dez Fitzpatrick. The addition of Julio Jones immediately changes the complexion of what that situation looks like though.

Now, a team that has been in the playoff mix comfortably over the past few seasons has added a player who, when healthy in recent years, has remained as dynamic as ever. He fits seamlessly into the Falcons offense that thrives off of play-action with deep shots and creating yards after the catch. He’s a superstar who will not only perfectly complement Brown but make the third-year pro better.

To be able to add that type of presence for only a second-round pick and a pick-swap is a huge win for Tennessee, no matter what money they have to take on. Plus, with the cap only set to rise moving forward, that should make the big contract easier to swallow as time goes on.

Titans Trade Grade: A+

Grading the Julio Jones trade for the Atlanta Falcons

It tends to be difficult to fully assess how a franchise fared in a big trade when they unloaded the big asset with the intent of freeing up salary cap space. And such is the case with Atlanta. Looking at the totality of the situation, though, it’s a bit of a mixed bag as to how we can color this deal for the organization.

On one hand, paying a 32-year-old wide receiver as much money as Julio Jones is owed still on his contract while the Falcons seemingly aren’t anywhere close to contention and while they are in a terrible position with the cap doesn’t make a ton of sense. That’s furthered by the fact that the new regime, headed by new general manager Terry Fontenot, didn’t hand out that contract or any of the deal that put the franchise in such a tough spot.

Thus, being able to unload almost all of Jones’ salary in this deal should help Atlanta in the long term. However, there is a downside to how things ultimately played out.

If this was the plan all along in trading Julio Jones, why wouldn’t they have been more eager to make this trade? Even though the deal had to be done after June 1 due to financial reasons, they could’ve worked out something that could’ve landed them either a higher-priced 2022 pick or even a selection this year.

Thus, the value that Jones could’ve demanded in return was suppressed, leaving Atlanta getting slightly less value than they otherwise could have. It’s still a net positive — but just less so than it otherwise could’ve been.

Falcons Trade Grade: B-