Julio Jones joining Tom Brady with former rival Buccaneers

Future Hall of Fame receiver Julio Jones has found a new team ahead of training camp. He’s signing with Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.

If you’re an Atlanta Falcons fan, you might want to look away as quickly as possible.

Although, you won’t be able to avoid seeing Julio Jones twice a year now…

This has got to be absolutely brutal for Atlanta Falcons fans.

First of all, you have the simple fact that Julio Jones has now signed on with a former bitter rival in Tampa Bay.

Second, you have Julio Jones joining Tom Brady, the man who performed the single greatest comeback in Super Bowl history against the Falcons, preventing Jones and Matt Ryan from leading Atlanta to its first title in franchise history.

This one hurts and you can’t help but feel it’s a bit personal.

On the surface, this looks like a pretty innocent “ring chasing” move for both Jones and the Buccaneers.

From Jones’ perspective, it makes a lot of sense. Tom Brady is basically an automatic ticket to the NFL’s final four every year. That alone gives you a good shot to do something you’ve never done before — win a title.

From the Bucs’ perspective, it also makes a lot of sense.

Chris Godwin is working his way back from an ACL injury, although he somehow miraculously avoided the PUP list to open training camp.

You also no longer have Rob Gronkowski in the lineup, and even though Julio Jones doesn’t play the tight end position, you have a ton of opportunities to run four-wide sets or 11 personnel and get different rotations of three receivers out there on the field, keeping everyone fresh.

Jones is not the superstar now that he once was, but he’s certainly capable of being effective in Tom Brady’s offense.

At the very least, you’ve got to applaud the Bucs’ aggressiveness in constantly looking for ways to upgrade the roster and take calculated risks.

Especially when you contrast their style of team building to the Green Bay Packers and how they choose to “support” Aaron Rodgers with skill position talent.

Good for Julio Jones, good for Tom Brady, and good for the Buccaneers, who are probably destined for yet another final four appearance in 2022.