Atlanta Falcons: Julio Jones still has something left in the tank

Did the Atlanta Falcons make a mistake re-signing their prized wide receiver?

Many Atlanta Falcons fans are beginning to wonder if the franchise made a mistake when they re-signed WR Julio Jones to a massive extension just a couple of years ago.

For those that don’t remember, the Atlanta Falcons re-upped Jones’ contract in September of 2019 that gave the All-Pro wide receiver a 3-year extension worth $66 million. That contract is set to run through the 2022 season.

At the time that Jones signed with the Falcons, he had been a five-time Pro Bowler in a row and a two-time first-team All-Pro.

After a less-than-stellar 2020 season, though, many Falcons fans are beginning to question if it was a mistake of some sort to give Jones- an aging wide receiver- that big of an extension.

Julio Jones still has something left in the tank for the Atlanta Falcons

First of all, we should acknowledge that just a year ago Jones was being named as a Pro-Bowler.

Even though he has battled injury this season and has only played in nine games, Jones has still made an impact when he’s been on the field. He’s going to finish the year with a 15.1 yards per catch number, which is right at his career average and he has the highest catch percentage (75 percent) of his career.

There’s no doubt that Jones is aging and that his time in the league is passing, but it’s a little far to think that one injury-riddled season is enough to call his career dead.

Jones is still producing when he’s on the field and there is no reason to believe that he won’t be able to get healthy over the offseason and continue to be a major target for Matt Ryan moving forward.

Are his days of ‘All-Pro’ status likely finished? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean that Jones can’t be a viable option and impactful player moving forward on that Falcons offense.