Have the Buccaneers seen the last of Julio Jones in the NFC South?
If you could remove one player from each of your rival teams in the division, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would assuredly pick Julio Jones when it was their turn to make the Falcons worse.
Jones is the best receiver in the NFL right now and has been for some time, and even with the injuries in recent years, he will likely go down in history as one of the best at the position of all time.
Throughout ten seasons in the NFL, Jones has accounted for 12,896 receiving yards and 60 touchdowns. Plenty of these eye-popping stats have come against the Buccaneers.
Tampa hasn’t been known for its secondary in the 2010s, which would’ve come in handy against a player like Jones. Instead, the Bucs got a front-row seat against a top receiver against a terrible defense for the last ten years, but that could be changing.
The Buccaneers will hope for a trade
As Atlanta is in a horrible position from a cap space standpoint, it was reported by Ian Rapoport on Twitter that the Falcons are listening to trade offers on their future Hall of Fame receiver. Thank goodness.
As the Buccaneers were already squarely in the driver seat for the NFC South in 2021, the Falcons losing Jones could only make that prospect easier. Atlanta already wasn’t much of a contender anyway, but you can’t deny the impressive potential of their offense.
The defensive woes will likely keep the Falcons out of commission for at least one more season, but losing Jones would force the offense to take a step back as well.
Whether this would be a loss to Matt Ryan or a rookie quarterback, the Falcons would be making a massive mistake in trading Jones, but it is a mistake that the Buccaneers would be happy to watch.
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