Russell Wilson’s new crush for Seahawks’ offense apparently is Atlanta’s Julio Jones
First, Antonio Brown.
Now, apparently, Julio Jones.
Russell Wilson’s open courting of All-Pro wide receivers continues, this time with the Atlanta Falcons’ available star.
“The Falcons continue to field calls from teams interested in trading for Julio Jones. The Seahawks have had discussions about a possible trade with Atlanta, per sources. In fact, QB Russell Wilson & Julio Jones have spoken to discuss the possibility of playing together,” ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported Sunday.
That got people fired up on an otherwise quiet holiday weekend.
One immediate question pertinent to the Seahawks’ side of this: Can Jones pass block?
Trading for Jones would be a unique way to address Wilson’s very public proclamation in January that “I’m frustrated with getting hit too much.”
Either the Falcons or Jones’ camp leaking this information seeks to create the strong impression there is a defending division champion interested in trading, to give the Falcons the salary-cap relief they are seeking.
That impression could help restore some of the trade leverage the Falcons likely feel they lost this past week when Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe ambushed Jones on live national television. Sharpe called Jones out of the blue, and Jones told his friend (while seemingly not knowing he was on the air) about Atlanta: “I’m out of there.”
Throwing in Wilson’s apparent interest in Jones perpetuates the idea that the quarterback wants all the weapons he can possibly have for Seattle’s offense.
In October, Wilson explained why he had Brown at his offseason training home for workouts they made very public, and why he wanted Brown to join the Seahawks. That was despite the wide receiver’s recent troubles with suspensions, getting cut by the Raiders and Patriots and a lawsuit for alleged sexual assault.
“Nobody’s perfect,” Wilson said of Brown seven months ago.
The receiver eventually signed with Tom Brady and Tampa Bay for their Super Bowl run last season.
Jones is Brown—minus the baggage.
In fact, he’s a better fit for Seattle’s offense.
They are both 32. They each have been selected to seven Pro Bowls. They have six All-Pro selections between them.
But Jones is 6 feet 3, five inches taller than Brown. That fits coach Pete Carroll’s never-ending quest to add an accomplished—and big—veteran wide receiver to the Seahawks’ top targets DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Carroll has in recent years brought in huge, 30-something former All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Marshall (in 2018) and huge, about-to-be-30-something former All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon (in 2019 and ‘20).
Both failed.
Marshall lasted a couple months, dropped too many passes and got cut. He’s out of football. Gordon lasted six weeks of the ‘19 season, and got suspended by the NFL again for drugs before Seattle re-signed him last September. The league suspended him again late last season, for failing to satisfy all requirements of his conditional reinstatement. The Seahawks released Gordon this spring. He’s also out of the NFL.
Jones was limited to playing nine of Atlanta’s 16 games in 2020 because of an injured hamstring. His 51 receptions, 771 yards and three touchdowns were the fewest in a season of his career besides 2013. He played only five games that year before he broke his foot.
Carroll wants more
Metcalf and Lockett each had 1,000 yards receiving last season; Metcalf was seventh in the NFL with 1,303 yards on 83 catches while Lockett had 1,054 yards. Lockett’s 100 catches were tied for seventh in the league. They each caught 10 of Wilson’s Seahawks-record 40 touchdown passes in 2020.
Yet Carroll obviously isn’t satisfied with having just Metcalf, who has two years and $2 million left on his rookie contract, and Lockett, who two months ago signed a four-year extension worth $69 million with Seattle guaranteeing him $37 million.
With pressing needs at center, defensive tackle and outside linebacker, Carroll and general manager John Schneider made wide receiver D’Wayne Eskridge the Seahawks’ top pick in last month’s draft. Eskridge is a flyer, with 4.3-second speed in the 40-yard dash. He’s impressed Seahawks coaches through his first rookie minicamp and organized team activities (OTAs) this month with his tenacity and grasp of his new offense.
But Eskridge is more Lockett and less Metcalf, Marshall or Gordon. He’s 5-9 and 190 pounds.
Jones is more Metcalf, Marshall and Gordon. He is 6-3 and 220 pounds.
Atlanta’s situation
He has three seasons remaining on the $66 million contract the Falcons gave him in 2019. A wowing $64 million of that money is guaranteed. Jones is scheduled to earn base salaries of $15.3 million and $11,513,000 in the next two seasons, including 2021. For 2023, his team could save $11,513,000 in cap space by releasing Jones, who will be 34 then.
Atlanta is in salary-cap hell, and are rebuilding with a new, first-time head coach (Arthur Smith) and first-time general manager (Terry Fontenot).
According to overthecap.com, only the Bears and Saints have a worse cap situation for 2021. The Falcons will be almost $7 million over the NFL’s 2021 cap limit of $182.5 million when it must fit its top 51 qualifying contracts under the cap before the season begins in September. They have more than $75 million in cap space the next two years tied to franchise quarterback Matt Ryan, who is 36 years old.
The Falcons have made it known they would be willing to trade Jones—for a high price. The team’s website this past week echoed a report by ESPN’s Russini that Atlanta has received an offer of a first-round pick in the 2022 for Jones.
Problem for the Seahawks is, they don’t have a first-round pick in 2022. They traded it and their 2021 number one to the New York Jets last summer to acquire All-Pro safety Jamal Adams.
So if they want to acquire Jones, they will need to get what Schneider often is in trades: creative.
If they truly want Jones, one player the Seahawks would love for Atlanta to be enticed by could be Rashaad Penny. Seattle’s first-round pick in 2018 has yet to solidify himself in the Seahawks’ offense because of injured. He returned late last season after missing 12 months following reconstructive knee surgery.
This month Carroll and Schneider predictably chose not to exercise Seattle’s fifth-year contract option on Penny for a guaranteed 2022. He is due $1.95 million in non-guaranteed base salary this year, the final year of his rookie deal. He enters training camp again as re-signed lead rusher Chris Carson’s backup.
The Falcons signed former Seahawk running back Mike Davis this offseason to a two-year deal. He is presumably the new leader of a very thin and unproven set of running backs in Atlanta. The Falcons’ other running backs: Cordarrelle Patterson (who is more a kick-return specialist), Qadree Ollison, Tony Brooks-James, Caleb Huntley and Javian Hawkins.
Raise your hand if you know two of them.
But it will take far more than one player—even a starter at that, for Seattle, in Penny—to get Jones from Atlanta. It will take draft picks, too. It may take multiple players, draft picks, or combinations.
At least the Seahawks won’t have to persuade Wilson.
This story was originally published May 30, 2021 at 1:03 PM.
