After speculation put the Seahawks’ atop the list of potential suitors for Julio Jones, the star receiver will instead be taking his talents to the AFC South.
Exactly a week ago to the day, ESPN’s Dianna Russini sent the Seahawks’ fanbase into a frenzy with a single tweet. Mentioning Seattle as a potential suitor for Atlanta receiver Julio Jones, and namedropping quarterback Russell Wilson as a driving force of that interest, speculation and debate ran rampant for the next six days.
That will now come to an abrupt end as the Falcons and Titans have reportedly agreed on a trade that will bring Jones to Nashville. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Atlanta will receive “at least” a second-round pick in return, though final compensation is still being hammered out between the two parties.
This likely proved to be too expensive for the Seahawks’ tastes. Already without their first-round pick in 2022 after sending it to the Jets in last summer’s trade for safety Jamal Adams, dealing their second-rounder as well would have essentially pushed them out of what’s expected to be the most “normal” draft since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Additionally, receiver was no longer a major need of Seattle’s following its second-round selection of Western Michigan pass-catcher D’Wayne Eskridge this April. It’s also a position that’s had significant investments poured into it with more coming down the pipeline. Tyler Lockett was given a four-year, $69.2 million extension earlier this offseason, and the other half of the Seahawks’ star receiving duo, DK Metcalf, could potentially push for an extension worth an upwards of $20 million annually when he becomes eligible for negotiations next year.
Had the Seahawks traded for Jones, he would have cost them $15.3 million in salary cap space this season. Per OverTheCap.com, they only have $7.2 million currently available and maintain interest in the likes of free agents K.J. Wright and Richard Sherman. The likeliest path to making a trade work was through a restructure of either Wilson or linebacker Bobby Wagner’s contracts – something they’ve avoided doing up to this point – or making an even longer term commitment to Jones in order to lower his 2021 cap hit.
The possibility was there if they so wished to aggressively pursue it, but the hurdles that needed to be overcome proved too much in the end.
The Titans adding Jones still impacts the Seahawks in a way, however; the two teams are slated to face off against one another at Lumen Field in Week 2 this September. An already difficult challenge just became more daunting for Seattle in its home opener, now faced with the task of covering Jones and A.J. Brown all while trying to stop the punishing running force of Derrick Henry.
But for Seattle fans, this outcome is still somewhat of a welcome one. All of the team’s divisional rivals had been linked to Jones at one point or another in this process and, given the arms race that is the NFC West, many were concerned the Seahawks would have to see the five-time All-Pro twice a year if they didn’t land him themselves.
While it’s unlikely to be confirmed how serious the Seahawks were about a trade for Jones, don’t be surprised to see them linked to other high-caliber players over the course of the summer. General manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have openly stated they kick the tires on every opportunity that presents itself, and a big summertime trade has become something of an annual tradition for them the past few years.