Why Julio Jones Commerce To The San Francisco 49ers May Work
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Does Julio Jones’ deal with the 49ers make sense? (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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On the surface, the idea of a team like the San Francisco 49ers hitting a $ 15.3 million salary cap this late in the off-season makes little sense. It is not sensible.
It’s also not reasonable to believe that anyone of Julio Jones’ broad receiver is usually available this late in the off-season. However, it will most likely be on June 1st.
According to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, the Atlanta Falcons are under the guise of getting the seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver to fix their problems with the salary cap.
“Jones’ availability in the trading market was almost clear when new general manager Terry Fontenot and coach Arthur Smith landed in Atlanta and realized the magnitude of the team’s salary cap issues,” noted Schultz. “Anyone who is likely to deny this is doing so out of sheer fandom.”
Unsurprisingly, Schultz listed San Francisco as one of the five teams that make sense to Julio Jones. It’s something that has been discussed on an endless loop for the past few weeks.
The fit is obvious. The 49ers need another proven wide receiver for Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. In this scenario, Samuel would likely switch to the slot, with Aiyuk starting from outside against Jones. In the presence of all-pro tight end, add George Kittle and that’s an elite skill position group for Trey Lance or Jimmy Garoppolo in the middle.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who worked with Jones in Atlanta from 2015-2016, appears open to the option of earning the future Hall of Fame recipient.
“Julio Jones, for everyone, especially if you’ve had the chance to coach him, he’s what you say and more,” Shanahan, former NFL player Michael Irvin, said on a recent podcast. “I mean, the guy is unique. It makes coaching much – much – easier. Therefore, Julio feels the same for everyone. So I’m not worried about saying that. As is well known. Everyone knows that Julio is on another level. That’s why he’s a special guy. “
In her two-year stint with Atlanta when Shanahan Jones was offensive coordinator, the broad receiver garnered 219 receptions for 3,280 yards. Shanahan has looked after his former recipient since taking the 49ers’ job in 2017.
These are the acquaintances. Jones is a great fit. He has a relationship with Shanahan. He can still produce at a high level if he is healthy. It is the unknowns that add more layers to the story. You could also complicate matters when it comes to a possible Julio Jones deal with the 49ers.
San Francisco 49ers Draft Pick Restrictions
Trading with Trey Lance limits the 49ers offering in a Julio Jones deal. (Photo by Michael … [+]
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With the rise from the 12th choice in the NFL Draft 2021 to third overall for Trey Lance, San Francisco pretty much sold its soul to the “devil”. This included sending picks to the Miami Dolphins for the first round in 2021 and 2022, as well as choosing the equalizer selection for the third round next year.
At 32 years old and an injury-ridden 2020 campaign in which he missed seven games due to injury, Jones is unlikely to need a selection in the first round of a trade. If another team offers this in a shocking way, San Francisco is immediately out of the competition. At the moment it can be assumed that this is not the case.
Instead, the Hawks are likely looking for a second-round pick for the Veteran Recipient. This is reasonably a price the 49ers could meet. Sure, it would get them out of the first two rounds of the NFL draft next year, but Jones’ short-term presence on a Super Bowl-competing team would be far more impactful than what the 49ers are hoping for a late second round selection in 2022 .
Julio Jones’ Contract, San Francisco 49ers Salary Cap Situation
The San Francisco 49ers have to imprison Fred Warner. (Photo by Ralph Freso / Getty Images)
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San Francisco currently has a cap space of $ 17.6 million, a number that will be brought down to around $ 11.5 million according to the rookie-class total characters. Jones is currently expected to offset $ 15.3 million against the cap for an assuming team.
The math doesn’t seem to work here, does it? Not correct! There are ways to navigate through these. Obviously, the best financial scenario would be to trade Garoppolo, which would create a cap space of $ 23.6 million. Given the 49ers’ stance on their starting quarterback since Lance was drafted, this seems like a highly unlikely scenario.
Rather, the 49ers are telling Atlanta to raise roughly $ 5 million from this $ 15.3 million cap hit – in exchange for another mid-round selection. From a purely financial perspective, this would work. This wouldn’t affect the Falcons’ long-term health either, which is one of the reasons Jones is on the block in the first place.
From the perspective of the 49ers, this would create the need for cap gymnastics for team president Paraag Marathe. He has been able to navigate these topics in the past and most recently helped San Francisco put together a surprisingly effective time for freelance agencies.
The background to this is the need to sign all-pro linebacker Fred Warner for an extension before he joins the free agency next March. San Francisco won’t be bringing the BYU product to the open market, but if Warner goes under the franchise label in 2022, it would hurt the health of the 49ers in terms of the salary cap going forward. The cap hit would likely be $ 16 million in this scenario.
Would a deal with Jones put an end to Warner’s extension talks? I’m not sure. In fact, security guard Laken Tomlinson and security officer Jimmie Ward’s signing for extensions would lower their caps for 2021. Both have been absolutely great over the past few seasons and fit into the long-term future of the 49ers.
According to Over the Cap, these two steps would save about $ 9 million in space. If necessary, restructuring the contract with defense attorney Arik Armstead would save an additional $ 4.6 million. The moral of this story? By definition, the NFL only exists under a “hard cap”. This cap will never be a disadvantage when it comes to making a blockbuster trade. With Marathe as a guru in this regard, the 49ers are no different.
Yes, Julio Jones to the San Francisco 49ers makes sense
Julio Jones to the San Francisco 49ers could actually happen. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
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Here are a few other obstacles to overcome. Would Atlanta want to take Jones to a conference rival? Will other teams offer more than the 49ers could possibly send to the Hawks? These are two big questions.
Even so, Jones has played selflessly with the Falcons in a brilliant 10-year career. Given his MO, I can’t see the esteemed owner Arthur Blank not instructing his new front office to work with Jones on potential targets. Pure guesswork here, but there seem to be very few who fit better for the future first choice Hall of Famer than with his former offensive coordinator in San Francisco.
Some may push back realizing that this is a short-term move based on the Super Bowl competition in 2021 after the 49ers sold their future to a quarterback who is unlikely to lead them into the competition this season. It’s good.
What we do know is that in a successful off-season, San Francisco struck a balance between competing in the future and returning to championship competition status in the short term. Adding Jones to the mix would be part of that fortunate medium that General Manager John Lynch and Co. have found.
From a purely football standpoint, the addition of Jones would create inconsistencies up and down the field. Imagine how dynamic a healthy Jones would work with Aiyuk, Samuel and Kittle. Add a loaded backfield and a vastly improved offensive line and that gets enlarged even further.
If Jimmy Garoppolo is in the spotlight, he would have no excuses. Should the Super Bowl quarterback struggle in a technically contract year, any interest in him as a starter for the next off-season would be thrown out the window. Should he excel, as we saw in 2019, Garoppolo would have a choice when it comes to potential targets in a business.
Should Lance somehow beat Garoppolo for the starting job, there is no better way to help him in 2021 than to add one of the greatest recipients in modern NFL history. Jones, who is under contract through the 2023 season, would also have a long-term impact on Lance’s ability to make the transition from a small school college ball to the pros.
It’s always fun to throw away blockbuster trading scenarios and see if they stick around. The reality is that these blockbusters rarely work in real life. For now, Julio Jones of the San Francisco 49ers could be an exception to this rule.
