Falcons could have gotten a second-round pick for Julio Jones before the draft

[Freddie Falcon]

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As their nonchalance kindles into full-blown fire sale, it’s unclear what the Falcons will get for receiver Julio Jones in a trade.

Before the draft, it seems fairly clear that they could have gotten a second-round pick while also unloading the full amount of his guaranteed $15.3 million salary.

The Falcons were indeed looking for a first-round pick for Jones when they tried to arrange a pre-draft, post-June 1 trade for Jones. The pick would have changed hands in 2022 at the earliest, since the Falcons want to wait until June 2 to finalize the deal, for cap reasons. As we understand it, they could have gotten a second-round pick at that time — without paying any of his salary. They declined.

Now, things have changed. Teams that may have been interested devoted first- or second-round picks on receivers. Now, they’ve moved on.

So who’s interested now? Simms said on PFT Live that Jones has his eyes on the Titans and Patriots. Do they have their eyes on him?

More broadly, does anyone? The Falcons are determined to get at least a second-round pick for Jones because they got a second-round pick for Mohamed Sanu. The question continues to be whether and to what extent the Falcons will have to pay some of his salary in order to facilitate a trade — and whether their priority is maximizing draft compensation or minimizing the remaining cap charge.