Atlanta Falcons could make an NBA-Style trade with Julio Jones

Recent reports have come out that the Atlanta Falcons are taking calls for future hall of fame receiver Julio Jones.

The offseason has been brutal for Atlanta Falcons fans with all the speculation on what they should do in the draft and rumors of them potentially trading Julio Jones adds more fuel to the fire.

The only reason why they would trade away Julio Jones is for cap reasons.

However, Atlanta must wait until after June 1st to trade him because of the contract structure. The Falcons would lose $200,000 in cap space if they traded him before June 1st but would receive $15 million in cap space if they traded him after June 1st.

Is $15 million in cap space worth it for the Atlanta Falcons

The move might not be worth it but the new regime does not have any loyalty to Julio Jones. At least that is what fans have told us as the reason to get rid of Matt Ryan.

If the Falcons traded away Julio Jones, they could create an NBA-style trade.

The Atlanta Falcons could receive a “first-round pick” if they have a verbal agreement with a team and that team drafts the player the Atlanta Falcons would take if they had that pick.

A great example of this is the trade with the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic and Trae Young. On draft night, the Atlanta Hawks drafted Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks drafted Trae Young and the two players were later traded.

The Atlanta Falcons could make that exact same trade with the Baltimore Ravens for example. The Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons could have a verbal agreement and the trade for Julio Jones could be complete after June 1st.

The Ravens would then draft the player that Atlanta would take if they had that pick just like the Trae young-Luka Doncic example. Then on June 1st, the Atlanta Falcons would trade Julio Jones and a fourth for that player the Baltimore Ravens “drafted”.

This trade would be one of the first for an NFL team and open all sorts of possibilities for the future and it would also be a unique way for the Falcons to open up cap space if they traded away Julio Jones.