A new rumor surrounding Julio Jones suggests the Chicago Bears could land him
Prior to recent rumors, the Chicago Bears had literally not shot at landing Julio Jones in a trade. As mentioned, the Chicago Bears do not have a first-round pick next season. Therefore, the team did not have the draft capital needed to even call the Atlanta Falcons and discuss a possible trade.
However, now it appears that the Falcons are willing to take a second-round pick for Julio Jones. Is it possible that teams are not willing to give up a first-round pick for a 32-year-old wide receiver with injury concerns? The Falcons are at a point now they just want to be rid of Julio Jones’ large contract. By trading away Jones, the Falcons would wipe $38+ million in base salary off their books.
One key aspect to the Falcons demands is that the draft pick is a “hard” second-round pick. This means that there would not be any incentives tied to Julio Jones’ playing time or performance that would change the pick from a second-round pick to a later-round pick. The Chicago Bears could do this as they have a 2022 second-round pick. However, is it worth sending that pick and not drafting until the third round to bring in an aging receiver with injury history issues?