Julio Jones and the value of wide receivers

Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones was traded to the Tennessee Titans for a 2022 2nd-round draft pick and a 2023 4th-rounder.

Jones was the league’s most productive wide receiver for a decade. Although now 32 and with some injury questions, many believed he could still fetch a #1 draft pick in a trade. I had another thought: if the draft has already taken place, players should be traded for other players. If you lose a great player like Jones, you should get at least one player in return who can help the Falcons compete this year. If you don’t, you’re making your own team worse. That’s not a good message to send potential season-ticket buyers.

Apparently, the Falcons had little choice. They weren’t trading Jones so much as they were getting rid of $22 million, Jones’s annual salary. The Falcons were in so much salary cap trouble, they had no money to pay this year’s rookies.

Jones is the 25th highest-paid NFL player, 8th highest-paid who isn’t a quarterback, and 2nd highest paid receiver after DeAndre Hopkins. He’s eating 11.1%, or 1/9, of the team’s salary cap, and the roster size is 53.

In the six seasons prior to his injury-shortened 2020, Jones averaged 98 yards per game. 2014, the first year of that run, was the last year of his rookie contract that averaged $4 million/year. In the next four seasons he averaged $14.25 million. His $22 million/year contract began in 2019. The Falcons did nearly win a Super Bowl in those years, but made the playoffs only…