Revisiting the idea of a Patriots Trade for Julio Jones

Despite all the moves the New England Patriots made during the offseason, it's hard not to feel like they are still an offensive star away from ensuring their consistent offensive woes from 2020 cease for good.

Undoubtedly, star Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones can be that missing piece.

Right before the draft, our very own Matt Kalman wrote a detailed article exploring what Jones would mean to a franchise like the Patriots.

While rumors cooled off right after the draft, they once again have heated back up in a series of breaking reports.

Mike Lombardi said on The GM Shuffle he believes the Patriots will be in on Julio Jones:

"I see them being in this. I really do. ... I don't doubt the rumor of their interest in Julio Jones. That's how I would encapsulate that. There's no doubt. I think that's truly the case."
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) May 21, 2021

Can't speak to what Julio Jones wants, but was told the #Patriots have had internal discussions about the wide receiver. The 32-year old had been incredibly durable until this past season when he dealt with a troublesome hamstring.
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) May 22, 2021

These tweets were capped with perhaps the most promising report of all.

Report: Julio Jones wants to be traded to Patriots https://t.co/FtYbOoz6RR
— Rotoworld Football (@rotoworld_fb) May 22, 2021

It's worth mentioning that Jones' interest in the Patriots most likely stems from his connection with quarterback Cam Newton, as both spent years competing against each other in the NFC South.

In regards to the piece from the draft, New England keeping their early-round capital and allowing Mac Jones to fall to them means they could very well offer their 2022 second-round pick in exchange for Jones and a late-round pick. At his worst, Jones will still contribute far more than a run-of-the-mill late-second-round wide receiver.

In fact, Jones, now 32, is coming off a year in which he dealt with a nagging hamstring injury — despite missing seven games due to his strain, he still put up a respectable 51 catches for 771 yards and 3 TD.

Past just the raw stats, though, is the simple fact that Jones is a bona fide superstar X receiver who has the potential to simultaneously take over games and draw coverage away from other newly acquired receiving talent on the team.

Jones has three years left on his deal and is poised to make $15.3 million the first and $11.5 million each of the next two years. With the Patriots having roughly $16 million in cap space, it is conceivable that they would be able to fit Jones into their ledger. With the additional possibility of the Falcons reworking Jones' contract to be more cap-friendly in 2021 before a potential trade, the possibility of New England making a move just increases.