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May 27, 2021It’s no secret that Julio Jones donning the orange and brown would be awesome and make the Cleveland Browns a much better team. There’s just one major problem in that even becoming possible: Unfortunately, it doesn’t make sense for either the Browns or the Atlanta Falcons.
If (and possibly when) the Falcons trade Jones, who asked for a trade earlier this offseason and reiterated the fact that he no longer wants to be in Atlanta to Shannon Sharpe on FS1 Monday morning, the team would use the money saved by trading the receiver in order to sign their rookies that they just drafted. The Falcons would also do so to acquire future assets and save cap space for future use. Calvin Ridley will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023, a guy that the Falcons likely want to make sure remains in Atlanta for the foreseeable future. They also drafted former Florida tight end Kyle Pitts with the fourth-overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, a player that many believe can be a building block for the offense. The Falcons will want to trade Jones and not take back much salary, which is where the problem comes in for the Browns.
Cleveland currently has the third-highest paid wide receiver room in the NFL, with just under $40 million spent on the position in 2021. That’s roughly 37% of the team’s cap tied into just the wide receivers. So, if the Browns were to try and acquire Jones, they would want to trade one (or more) of their players to the Falcons, a trade that seems hard to come by. Let’s go over some of the scenarios:1
- Trading Jones for Odell Beckham Jr. is basically a wash in terms of cap space.
- Trading Jones for Jarvis Landry would only save the Falcons about $2 million.
- The one trade that makes sense but that Atlanta would never say ‘yes’ simply because they have Pitts already: Trading Jones for David Njoku and other draft assets. It would save Atlanta roughly $9 million in cap space but why would they trade Jones for Njoku, a tight end that would be behind both Pitts and Hayden Hurst on the depth chart?
We all have speculated that the Browns will likely have to trade either OBJ or Landry in 2022, but that doesn’t mean anything this offseason when it comes to trying to acquire Jones.
Dreaming of an offense where OBJ or Landry and Jones are lining up alongside players such as Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt, and Austin Hooper, among others, is certainly fun, but it’s just that: A dream. The offseason is long, trade scenarios always come to the surface no matter what, but it’s always important to look past all of the fun and rumors at times to realize what is realistic and what’s not. Acquiring a receiver that has totaled 848 receptions, 12,896 yards, and 60 touchdowns so far during his 10-year career is always enticing, but a dream for the Dawg Pound is likely all it will be in the end when it comes to trading for the 32-year-old wideout that is a seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro.
Also, let’s not forget about the fact that the Browns acquiring Jones would make everything come full circle a decade later. Cleveland traded the No. 6 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft to the Falcons, a pick that Atlanta used to draft Jones.
A fantasy football owner tries to acquire as much talent as possible. If you are in an auction fantasy football league, you need to try and do so while also keeping track of the money you are spending to make sure you have enough money for keepers and other positions. Browns general manager Andrew Berry’s position is much like the former, but dealing with real money instead. He wants to build the best team possible, but also realizes that he must keep track of the team’s cap space now and going forward, especially with guys such as Mayfield, Chubb, Denzel Ward, and Wyatt Teller, among others, all becoming free agents in the near future.
Jones donning a Browns jersey would make the Dawg Pound (and Baker Mayfield) happy, but it’s just not going to happen, Cleveland.
- A hat tip to WFNY’s own Michael Bode for figuring out some of these numbers so that I didn’t have to. [↩]