NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Falcons and Titans agreed in principle on a trade that would send star wide-receiver Julio Jones to Nashville, on Sunday.
In exchange for Jones, Tennessee will send a 2022 second-round draft pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick to Atlanta. Along with Jones, the Falcons will send a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Titans.
Titans general manager Jon Robinson spoke with reporters on Sunday and said the future is bright for the team.
“We’re excited to add Julio to the football team,” Robinson said. “He’s excited about what we got going on here in Nashville, and it’s a big day for our team.”
Robinson said there are still some things they have to work through, and the trade is pending Jones’ physical, as is every trade in the league. Additionally, he said they must work on the salary cap.
Nevertheless, he reiterated they are excited to have Julio in Music City and can’t wait to see what he brings to the team.
The trade may have come as a surprise to Titans fans, but Robinson said this is something they’ve been working on since they got word Jones wanted to be traded.
“We’ve been talking for about 2 to 3 weeks here back and forth with Atlanta,” Robinson said. “We had discussions, back and forth, for the last couple of weeks. It kind of picked up in intensity yesterday and finally found some closure on it this morning.”
Robinson said once word got out that Jones might be available, they started to evaluate how he would fit in with the offense.
“He’s big, he’s fast, he’s tough, he’s great with the ball in his hands, (a) willing blocker,” Robinson said. ” I think a lot of things that we ask of our receivers, which all the locals know, is get open and catch and block. He certainly checks those boxes and has done it at a high level for a lot of year in the National Football League.”
Titans fans weren’t the only ones excited about this trade, Jones’ future teammates expressed their excitement on social media. Titans WR AJ Brown posted a photo of himself and Jones and voiced his thoughts.
Brown was also a keynote speaker at an event in Nashville and took questions from reporters about the Titans landing Jones. Brown has been very local over the last few weeks saying he would be a great addition to the Titans.
“So this morning, I looked at my phone and my daughter was laying next to me and I was kind of starstruck and taking everything in. I kind of jumped out my bed as was like ‘is this really real,’ and I woke my daughter up,” Brown said. “I think this is really huge for Tennessee.”
Brown said Jones coming to Music City is huge for the team, the city, and said they are glad to have him. He said that through college he’s always looked up to Jones said it’ll be very valuable having him in the locker room to ask him questions and continue to learn from him.
