Atlanta Falcons do not need to trade Matt Ryan or Julio Jones

The Atlanta Falcons do not need to trade Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.

There is no question that the Atlanta Falcons have been on a downward spiral for the last four seasons, but that is not because of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. Ryan and Jones have done what is expected of them, while the defense continues to let them down time and time again.

Another defensive collapse Sunday against the Detroit Lions squandered yet another great performance from the duo of Ryan and Jones.

At this point, it is almost comical how the team continues to lose games. Every week it is something new with the Atlanta Falcons and, because of this, changes definitely need to, and will be made. It is clear that the team needs a complete coaching overhaul. Raheem Morris is not the guy, and neither is Jeff Ulbrich.

Personnel wise, yes the Atlanta Falcons need to add a couple of guys, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. For the most part, however, this team is loaded with talent, so trading Ryan and Jones for draft picks, and entering into a rebuilding stage makes no sense.

If the Atlanta Falcons could somehow manage to snatch up Trevor Lawrence or another highly regarded quarterback in this year’s draft, they definitely should. That doesn’t mean Ryan needs to go though.

Lawrence or any other young rookie would be lucky to learn from Ryan, who still has another two to three years in him at least. Jones, while he isn’t getting any younger and his injuries are starting to catch up to him, is still one of the very best in the game and can help this team win.

Another big issue that would come with trying to trade Ryan or Jones is cap space. To put it bluntly, the team is in a bad situation cap space-wise.

Michael Cunningham with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that trading either one of these guys would put the team in an even worse situation cap space-wise, and would leave millions of dollars of unusable money that couldn’t be used for other salaries. We can blame the higher-ups for putting the team in such an unfortunate situation.

With all of that being said, it is clear that the team doesn’t need to enter into a rebuilding phase, they just need a competent general manager who can sign and draft the right guys that will help lift this team back up, and a competent coaching staff that knows what they are doing.

Keeping Ryan and Jones is the right move because, under the right guidance and coaching staff, the Atlanta Falcons could be back in the playoffs next season. This is a talented team that needs Ryan and Jones to turn this franchise around into a contender once again.