After this morning’s report from multiple credible sources, Peter King and Albert Breer, Steve Wyche weighed in on the Julio Jones trade rumors. Understandably so, many fans are hurt by the rumors alone, but the possibility of moving the greatest Falcons player in history isn’t an emotional decision. Wyche stated that Falcons’ brass is listening to calls and could get an offer that helps Atlanta against the salary cap; it is strictly business.
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
According to OverTheCap, trading the star wide receiver before June 1st wouldn’t save Terry Fontenot any money against this year’s cap; in fact, it would cost the Falcons $200,000 to trade him before the designation date. Fontenot’s only option is to field trade offers with the notion it will carry a post-June 1st designation.
Signed through 2023, Jones’s dead cap figure is $7,750,000 every year until his contract ends with a post-June 1st designation. The savings would be $15,300,000 against the cap this year and $11,513,000 for the subsequent two years. The designation isn’t concrete, which means Atlanta could broker a deal involving Jones pre-draft, but it wouldn’t count until after June 1st.
This might hurt some fans, but the NFL is a business, and nobody inside the organization is making decisions with your feelings in mind. Julio Jones playing in a different team’s jersey is a real possibility. If a team acquired him in a trade, they would owe him $15,300,000 this year and $11,513,000 in the following two years on his current deal — three years, $38,326,000 in total. This is an extremely reasonable price for someone who averages over 95 yards per game for his career. Though he’s been injured more often in recent seasons, Julio Jones is still a force to be reckoned with and would immediately improve a contender’s chances at a Super Bowl.
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