The long shot became a no shot for the Seahawks when the Tennessee Titans sent the Atlanta Falcons a second-round draft pick in 2022 and a fourth-rounder in 2023 for star WR Julio Jones, 32, and a 2023 sixth-round pick, the clubs announced Sunday.
Whether Seattle made a firm offer isn’t known, but reports suggested the Seahawks inquired.
They have the draft capital to match the Titans offer, but the Seahawks may have wanted the Falcons to pay some of Jones’ contract, which includes $15.3 million guaranteed in 2021 and two more years beyond that.
The Falcons, who have little cap room, have said since March they would listen to offers for one of the premier wideouts in the NFL, hoping for a first-round pick in exchange. A deal became more plausible for Jones after a June 1 accounting door opened for all NFL clubs to reduce amounts of dead money owed on salaries against the 2021 cap.
The Titans lost two of their top pass-catchers in free agency: WR Corey Davis signed with the New York Jets and TE Jonnu Smith joined the New England Patriots.
Even though Russell Wilson was reported to have talked with Jones about coming to Seattle, he would have been the No. 3 receiver behind DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, the latter having just received a big contract extension.
Last year’s No. 3 receiver, David Moore, was allowed to go into free agency after a season of 35 catches on 47 targets for 417 yards and six touchdowns. A healthy Jones probably wants more action than that.
Even though Carroll and Wilson spoke in the off-season about more use of an up-tempo offense, which would suit Jones well, he’s likely to see more passes from QB Ryan Tannehill.
According to USA Today’s Doug Farrar, on deep routes, Tannehill in 2019 completed 30 of 53 passes for 865 yards, 584 air yards, seven touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 134.6, which led the NFL.
The Seahawks will find out soon enough about the combo; their home-season opener Sept. 19 is against the Titans. Presumably Jones will be recovered from a hamstring injury that limited him to nine games and 51 catches on 68 targets in 2021.
The Seahawks used the first of their three picks in the draft to select in the second round WR Dee Eskridge of Western Michigan. His speed and 5-9 size makes him a fit for slot receiver, but Carroll said this spring he would get his chances to play outside as well.
Jones’s 95.5 receiving yards per game is the best average in NFL history, almost 10 yards better than No. 2 Calvin Johnson (86.1). He owns Atlanta’s club records for catches (848) and yards (12,896) and is second to Roddy White in touchdown receptions (63).
Jones’ proven skills would have been a great asset in Seattle, but with about $7.2 million in cap space, not including the Saturday signing of punter Michael Dickson to a four-year contract extension worth up to $16 million, the Seahawks probably saved a few crowbars trying to fit in Jones’s deal, even one re-worked.
Pen to paper.
Well deserved, @mdcksn! pic.twitter.com/VUwjuByJqu
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) June 4, 2021
The other remaining large contract item is to get agreement on a long-term extension with SS and sack leader Jamal Adams.
20 Comments
I’m not heartbroken and didn’t really expect him – nor any other veteran household name WR – to end up here. But, having an upgrade at WR of Jones’s caliber as a so-called #3 would’ve definitely called for far more action than what Moore saw.
It was always an unlikely trade, but so were deals for Clowney, Richardson and Brown. With a shrunken cap and a $32M QB, no room at the inn.
Good points, particularly about the cap, that have me genuinely curious if RW understands that whenever he gets to lusting after the latest disgruntled star WR.
He knows exactly why it couldn’t be done. But it’s part of his job to agitate for better players, not manage the cap. If he didn’t do that, fans have a right to be disappointed.
Yes, I expect figuring who was #3 would have become a cottage industry.
Go ahead and pencil in Eskridge.
Not surprised, especially the AFC team part of it. No way they wanted Julio Jones to be the one to knock them out of the playoffs. (TEN-ATL is just a preseason game…remember those?) If Mr. Wilson persists in being cranky about his receivers, then he’s acting more like Dennis the Menace. And I think the Mitchells traded Dennis to the Haskell Family for a jar of pomade and Lumpy Rutherford. Something like that.
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Wilson knows how this game is played and that a trade for Jones was nearly impossible. He probably helped Jones out by expressing interest and adding leverage for ATL to get a deal done. Meanwhile he’s got another bullet to use against the Seahawks if necessary: I asked for Jones and you let him get away. Made a friend and gained a little leverage, and it didn’t cost him a thing.
Probably true, even if the market to swallow his salary was small. It only takes two to make a market. Wouldn’t be surprised if Wilson did Julio a solid.
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Would have been nice, but I really didn’t see ATL keeping him in the NFC if they had reasonable offers from the AFC. The Titans are a fun team, glad they’re in the AFC.
It’s a great fit for the Titans, who become a little more serious contenders. But at this time on the NFL calendar, it’s all about the cap.
The up-tempo triumvirate you described was a nice fantasy, Art. But I’m still pretty optimistic. It will be fun to see what Eskridge, or TE Everett, can do in Waldron’s system. And what ever happened with Ursua? Seemed like they were pretty excited about him initially.
Fantasy is what drives the NFL off-season. More than any other sport.
They like Ursua, enough to keep him around. He can be useful, just not a top-tier talent.
You mention one more big deal to get done – Jamal Adams – does that mean K.J. Wright is gone for good?
Likely done, but he’s one preseason injury from getting re-hired.
The last thing they need are receivers. They have receivers and can get a number 3 for sure. Or they could start effectively using the TE position.