Which draft picks are the Falcons getting for Julio Jones?

The news that Julio Jones wanted to leave the Atlanta Falcons forced the fans to ask some uncomfortable questions about just how bleak the team’s future looked.

Here was a player who had been synonymous with the Falcons, made some of the biggest plays in the team’s history, and looked like a leader both on and off the field. And he wanted no part of the franchise, mainly due to disbelief that the team could win.

Were the Falcons right to trade Julio Jones?

After 10 weeks of the season, it looks as if the Falcons’ evaluation of Jones was correct. The Tennessee Titans are 8-2. They’re currently the top seed in the AFC and have three more victories than anybody else. They’re almost guaranteed to make the playoffs.

The Falcons, on the other hand, are coming off one of the worst losses in memory. They’re 4-5 and, with a demanding schedule, face an uphill struggle if they want to be playing postseason football.

Julio being a winner doesn’t necessarily mean that the Falcons are a loser, though. (At least not in this sense.) The Falcons were in desperate need of cap space.

They’re a team clearly not competing, and they managed to move a big contract while adding a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Jones has spent the majority of the season on the sideline with a variety of injuries. At 32, the Falcons may understandably feel that they’re on the right side of the deal.

Which picks are the Falcons getting for Julio Jones?

Unfortunately for the Falcons, that second-round pick is tied to the Titans’ success this season. In an ideal world, the team would have gone 0-17, and the Falcons would be picking at 33, but a nice pick in the middle of the round was always a more realistic wish.

Even that is looking more and more unlikely, though. At 8-2, the Titans have the best record in the AFC, and it’s only the Green Bay Packers’ more difficult strength of schedule separating them from the top spot in the entire NFL. The Buffalo Bills are in second place in the AFC at 6-3.

If the Titans make the playoffs without a first-round bye, the Falcons could be picking anywhere between the 51st and 64th overall. If the Titans can stay atop the conference, though, they will secure a first-round bye. In that case, the highest pick that the Falcons could have in the second round would be pick 56th.

That’s because, when assigning draft orders for losers of each round, it reverts to the team’s win/loss record. If the Titans have a first-round bye, then at least one team eliminated at the same stage (the other unsuccessful AFC team) would have a worse record.

As things stand, the Falcons are on track to receive pick 31 in the second round from the Titans. If the postseason did follow the current draft order, that would mean the Falcons would get pick 63 in the 2022 NFL Draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft for Julio Jones, and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

With the holes on the team, Falcons fans need to unite and hope that the Titans lose a few more games.