Ex-Falcons star Deion Jones' time with the Saints just came to an abrupt end

When it was announced that the New Orleans Saints were signing Deion Jones to a one-year deal on Aug. 27, there was nobody more livid than Atlanta Falcons fans. Seeing a key piece of the Super Bowl LI team wear black and gold with a division rival was enough to make the most diehard of fans vomit.

Thankfully, it took just 16 days for the Saints to move on from Jones. In a late-summer surprise, Adam Schefter reported that New Orleans is sending the former Falcons star to the San Francisco 49ers in a straight-up swap for RB Zamir White, another summer pickup who is already on the move.

This trade was a surprise not only because of how abrupt it was, but because it really wasn't needed. Zamir White was available in free agency up until Aug. 12, 12 days before this deal was made. but they also didn't expect that Alvin Kamara would get injured and be out a month six days later, thereby decimating their RB depth.

Ex-Falcons star Deion Jones was just traded to the San Francisco 49ers

Typically, trades this late into the summer come closer to the Aug. 30 roster cut deadline, but this one came with a week to spare. Players are still fighting for depth chart positions and roster spots in training camp and there's still one preseason game left to play, so the evaluations are far from over.

Ever since leaving the Dirty Birds, the 31-year-old has become a journeyman. The 49ers will be his sixth team in the last six years, but the move to San Francisco will reunite the Pro Bowl LB with his former defensive coordinator, Raheem Morris, who was his longtime assistant in Atlanta and is the 49ers' DC.

While the homecoming is just dandy, what was the point of signing him to begin with? Both of these teams signed players for depth purposes just to ship them off days later. Yeah, the NFL is a business where trades and releases are frequent, but there's a fine line between unexpected and unnecessary.

Here's the other thing we have to remember: Jones is a New Orleans native who went to LSU and signed with the Saints to have a chance to play for his hometown team. Finishing his career back where it all began must've been a dream come true if he was ever given a chance to play for them.

While it's nice to see a guy who's best known for excelling with the Falcons find his way off the Aints, it's not fun to see. And while the deal can be justified for both teams on paper, they didn't have to blindside Deion Jones by making a trade involving two players on the roster bubble.

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