The Falcons have received several trade offers for Julio Jones, including one that includes a first-round draft pick, sources tell Dianna Russini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Russini adds that there’s a sense around the NFL that a trade could go down as early as next week. 
Plenty of teams figure to have interest in the wide receiver. It’s been said that the Patriots, Titans, and 49ers could be among those in the mix.
“Well, you know I’m not legally allowed to talk about players on other teams, so I can’t answer that exactly the way you want me to,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said earlier this week. “Anyone I’ve coached in the past that I have a relationship with, especially a great dude like Julio, obviously I have a ton of respect for. We’re always interested in improving our team. We’ll never just say, ‘Hey, we’re done. We can’t improve our team.’ You always try to make that happen. But, yeah, it makes it harder when you’ve already given up some stuff to make some moves and things like that.”
Jones would round out an offense that features tight end George Kittle plus young receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. He could also help the Pats restore some of the firepower they lost when Rob Gronkowski took his talents to Tampa. Meanwhile, A.J. Brown seems to think that he’d look good in Titans blue.
“Trust me, if you want to carry the load, you can carry it,” Brown said to Jones on Instagram (link). “But if you get tired, you know I can carry you.”
Everyone says you shouldn’t draft a RB in the 1st round due to their ‘short shelf life’. How long of a shelf life does a 32 year old beat up WR offer, 2 years?
Everyone but NFL teams. They’re still drafting RB’s in the first round. I would rather trade a 1st for a proven NFL stud than an unproven rookie. Also, the first that was offered probably falls later in the round.
Rams fan? No 1st’s for a long time.
George Allen did pretty well trading first round picks for players who were considered “over the hill”.
Never had a losing season. Went 2-7 in the playoffs, too.
Six one-‘n-dones.
All 1sts aren’t equal, though. If you’re a good team and you believe Julio puts you over the top, well worth a late 1st rounder.
A WR considered arguably the best at his position every year he’s been in the league > an unproven rookie RB, especially since quality RB’s are found at similar rates in each round of the draft.
“…quality RB’s are found at similar rates in each round of the draft.”
Do you have a citation for that, because I’m very doubtful regarding that assertion?
Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry, Austin Eckler are a few non 1st round running backs i can think of of the top of my head that are top 10 running backs .. if you are looking at one of the rbs that has gone beyond the years there is a guy named frank gore still going strong that was a 3rd rounder. Miles Sanders is another solid rb i can think of not in the 1st round …. do we need links and citations for all of these guys or have you heard of them?
That’s not what I was asking. I was asking you if you have data that backs up your claim that “quality RB’s are found at similar RATES in each round of the draft [emphasis added].” As in, 25% of 1st round RB’s are quality RB’s, and 22% of 7th round RB’s are quality RB’s, to just throw around a couple of arbitrary numbers.
In the 2018 draft, for instance, six of the eight RB’s taken in the first three rounds have gained over 1,000 yards on the ground in their career (two of three #1’s, three of four #2’s and one of on #3), while none of the 13 RB’s drafted in the 4th through 7th rounds have gained even 1,000 rushing yards in their careers. Four of the Day 1 and Day 2 picks have gained at least a combined 2,000 rushing and passing yards in their careers (2 of 3, 2 of 4, 0 of 1), while only one of the 13 Day 3 draftees has picked up that many rushing and receiving yards. The per round RATES are not, in fact, similar, especially if you are looking for a RB who can be a RB1.
I don’t doubt that you can find a quality running back in any round of the draft, although that may not happen every year. But folks who make that argument usually forget how much dross the teams have to dig through to find those late round gems.
A 32 year old game changing WR1 will most likely have a more immediate impact and give a team a better chance to win now than a 1st round draft pick would in that theoretical 2 year window
IF he can stay on the field.
Yeah it’s bad. Only a select few teams like Packers or Ravens should consider it.
What if he’s an all timer?
Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Marvin Harrison, & Cris Carter all had at least 4, 1000 yard type seasons from age 32 on.
Don’t fkn do it Howie….
So the writer here focuses on the 49ers without ever prefacing it by saying they don’t HAVE a first round pick until 2024? Um……….
You need to look at who the author is, then it’ll make sense.
2 2nds and 2 3rds could beat a 1st
Trade is about best value not simply 1st round pick or not.
That would depend as well on how many picks the receiving team has available. If the team in question were San Francisco (which has I believe only five picks in 2022) for example, two seconds and a third would be a smarter haul than a first. A team like Pittsburgh, with limited cap space, a ton of holes or soon to be holes, and a decent history of good drafting could value a package of picks over a first. A team like L.A. or Houston, both of which have been bereft of first rounders since George Washington lied about illegal logging, would obviously value the single better pick than the multiple chances. Of course, L.A. prefers to purchase its talent elsewhere, but that’s obviously not relevant to this discussion.
Atlanta in this case has a lot of holes, but they’re not particularly short on picks. They’re not desperate at a single position, but their retaining Matt Ryan says that they’d like to compete within the next two seasons in all likelihood. I think they’d rather take the immediate impact of the first over the long term restock of the multiple picks.
In fairness, the article says “a” first round pick; it doesn’t say a first round pick in 2022…
I’ll say it again, Jones isn’t worth a 1st round pick. 4th or 5th at best. Just another ring chaser
That’d make you incorrect again. You’re getting two years of an immensely talented WR. The contract length for a 2nd round pick is 4 years, max. So you can gamble on Julio being healthy, knowing he’ll produce; or a draft pick both being good and being healthy, which they could be neither. I feel you’re over-valuing picks.
Your takes are bad and you should feel bad.
Terrible opinion not backed by reality. Diggs, Cooks (twice), Amari Cooper, and OBJ have all been traded for firsts recently. Look at their stats prior to being traded and compare them to Julio’s. Even with his age, you’re getting a top flight receiver. Late first rounder will likely get it done, maybe the Falcons will sweeten it with a 5th rounder.
Age, health and salary cap implications are all part of the equation in a trade especially this late in free agency. I believe only a handful of teams can fit him under the salary cap without restructuring some current contracts.
Credibility of the article was exposed with:
“He could also help the Pats restore some of the firepower they lost when Rob Gronkowski took his talents to Tampa.”
Gronk was retired for a year between teams but good job painting as if he pulled a LeBron
The article doesn’t cite a named source (for Russini’s report), a named team, or a named year, so I think that does its credibility more than any LeBron comparisons.
If I were the Falcons GM, I would tell the media I had an offer for a 1st too.
I’m wondering if the Packers would trade a first rounder for Julio in an attempt to make up with Rodgers, and also to plug a need.
I think it may work, even if they bungled the entire approach and still would be left with missed opportunities to either establish defensive depth up the middle or draft the hole that Jones would be now filling. They would be essentially just be paying a higher price for what they should have done in the beginning in terms of acquiring a receiver The mistakes obviously have been made, but it would be a significant step in covering many of them.
Dude is going downhill fast. Not worth a first. Some team will be sorry
He’s a receiver. It’s his job to go downhill fast.
If this were true, why wasn’t he traded (with a June 1 designation)????
Seems dubious at best.
Tampa come out of no where and pulls some magic to land jones! Calling it now lol! Lord… as a falcons fan, this is almost as embarrassing as the super bowl loss… almost.
I understand we need to move on from Jones, I’ve been advocating for it for a while. But honestly, if we are, we needed to try to move on from a few other piece. Ex. Matt Ryan…. The team in my eyes, needed a complete gut of the old and rebuild with the youth. Would have liked to see us gain a few draft picks before this last draft. Somehow get pitts and fields. Think that would have been a good foundation to build on. Just my opinion, worthless as it may be