Julio Jones: Three under-the-radar trade destination possibilities
By Joel Deering
The Atlanta Falcons are listening to offers for their star wide receiver, Julio Jones. Several teams, including the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, and Tennessee Titans, have been linked to potential trade rumors about the Falcons’ star. Each of these teams would love to have a receiver like Julio Jones, who many consider the best wide receiver in the NFL.
When you consider the needs of the teams who are heavily linked to the star wide receiver, adding Julio Jones makes complete sense. All of these teams could be elevated to the next level with a player of Julio Jones’ caliber.
Although the above teams are getting all the talk and attention in the Julio Jones rumors, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll end up playing in one of these destinations. While every team should want Julio Jones, adding him just doesn’t make sense for some teams. However, there are other teams who aren’t being talked about at all in the Julio Jones sweepstakes, who should make a move to acquire his services.
After thinking about which teams could quietly pursue the star wide receiver, I came up with a list of three under-the-radar trade destinations for Julio Jones.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers may come as a big surprise trade destination for Julio Jones. Last season, their top three receivers were Diontae Johnson (88 receptions for 923 yards), Chase Claypool (62 receptions for 873 yards), and Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster (97 receptions for 831 yards). With three receivers approaching 1,000 yards, it may not seem logical to add another receiver to the mix. However, when you take a deeper look into this Steelers roster from a season ago, it makes a lot more sense than it may first appear.
Many people blamed Ben Roethlisberger for the issues this team had offensively last season. While Roethlisberger got the blame, the real issue for the Steelers was the running game. The Pittsburgh Steelers ranked dead last in rushing last season, averaging 84.4 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry.
Due to their lack of ability to run the ball, the burden to carry the Steelers offensively fell solely on the arm of Ben Roethlisberger. At this point in his career, Roethlisberger is not built to do that. During the offseason, the Steelers made some moves to address this issue, one of those being drafting running back Najee Harris 24th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.
While Harris may help the Steelers turn things around on the ground, things may not change right away. If the Steelers can’t get their ground game going, they’ll once again turn to Ben Roethlisberger to throw, throw and throw some more. If this is the case, adding Julio Jones makes perfect sense.
Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, and Ju-Ju Smith-Schuster are all young receivers with bright futures, but none of them are on the same level as Julio Jones. If the Steelers insist on throwing the ball that much, they can’t have too many weapons for Roethlisberger to throw too. In a win-now mode, adding the league’s best wide receiver will take this offense to a new level, and take a lot of pressure off Ben Roethlisberger.