NFL star wide receiver Julio Jones was traded from the Atlanta Falcons to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, giving last year’s second-best club in total offensive numbers another prime weapon.
Both teams confirmed the deal, which sees Tennessee trading a 2022 second-round NFL Draft pick and 2023 fourth-round choice to Atlanta for Jones and a 2023 six-round selection.
The trade is contingent upon a successful physical by Jones, who had asked to be traded.
The move eases salary cap worries for the Falcons, with Jones’s $15.3 million base salary for 2021 and two more seasons going to the Titans.
Tennessee had lost receiver Corey Davis and tight end Jonnu Smith to free agency, so Jones adds some much-needed spark among pass catchers.
Titans star running back Derrick Henry, the NFL’s rushing leader each of the past two seasons, and receiver A.J. Brown, with 2,126 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns in two NFL seasons, had made cases on social media for Jones to come to Nashville.
Here is a look at Jones’ career through numbers:
Jones has made 848 catches for 12,896 yards and 60 touchdowns in his 10-year career, spent entirely with the Falcons.
The seven-time Pro Bowl standout helped the Falcons reach the 2017 Super Bowl, where Atlanta lost to the New England Patriots, and to three other playoff appearances.
Jones has the best average receiving yards per game in NFL history with 95.5, topping the old mark of 86.1 yards a game set by Calvin Johnson.
Jones, 32, ranks 20th on the all-time receiving yardage list and fourth in all-time 100-yard receiving games with 58, trailing only Jerry Rice’s 76, 64 by Randy Moss and 59 by Marvin Harrison.
Slowed by injuries in 2020, Jones made 51 catches for 771 yards and three touchdowns in nine games.
But he still figures to be a prime target for Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill and will help ease the load on Henry’s ground attack for Tennessee next season.
The Titans have reached the playoffs in three of the past four seasons, their deepest run coming in a 2019 season conference finals loss to eventual Super Bowl winner Kansas City.