Julio Jones Traded to the Titans: Winners & Losers

It’s unclear how many other teams were in the Julio Jones sweepstakes, but the Titans made a move when AFC counterparts like the Colts and Ravens didn’t. Will this splash lead the Titans into the AFC contender status next season? That remains to be seen but they’re clearly going for it right now and every Titans fan should be excited about that. Hard to believe, but there’s under 100 days until the 2021 NFL season starts. We’ll see if all of these offseason moves teams made will payoff or blow up in their faces.

With the Julio Jones move now done, we broke down some winners and losers from the trade.

Is anyone more excited than Ryan Tannehill right now? In just a few short years he went from an Adam Gase offense to a team with Derrick Henry, AJ Brown, and Julio Jones. That’s an impressive turnaround. Some might still be doubting Tannehill’s skills as a QB, but these last two years in Tennessee have proven that he’s more than capable of getting it done, even if the Titans love to run the football. The big question will be how does this team play after losing OC Arthur Smith to the Atlanta Falcons. If they can keep the creative offense in place then Tannehill should thrive with these weapons.

This is a tough one for Ravens fans. Julio Jones was sitting right there and the Ravens didn’t go out and get him. We know that Baltimore has a run-first attack on offense, but it’s time to get Lamar Jackson some proven weapons at WR on the outside.

If Ryan Tannehill’s life just got easier, then AJ Brown’s life just got way easier. Instead of getting all of the focus from the defense at the position, teams now have to deal with Julio Jones and Brown. This should really open things up for the third-year WR, who is coming off a 1,000 yard season where he had 11 TDs. Just imagine what he’ll do now that teams have to worry about Julio Jones in the same offense.

As excited as Ryan Tannehill is right now, we have to imagine that Matt Ryan is just as sad that Julio Jones is leaving town. Yes, the Falcons have other weapons at WR like Calvin Ridley, but Jones was a staple in that offense for Ryan and his most dependable WR for years. It’s hard to just lose that from an offense. The good news for Ryan and the Falcons is that Kyle Pitts is coming to town and he looks like the real deal in every way.

Derrick Henry really might be the biggest winner in all of this. He was already a monster on the ground for the Titans and now defenses will have to deal with Julio Jones in this offense. Have fun trying to stop Derrick Henry with those kinds of weapons on the outside. That’s not going to be easy.

Much like the Ravnes, the Colts and 49ers were rumored in the Julio Jones talks. Neither team ended up pulling the trigger and now he’s going to Tennessee. For the Colts, that’s especially rough because he’s now in your division and you have to play him twice next season. With Carson Wentz at QB, the Colts would have been smart to get him a big-play weapon on the outside.

For the 49ers, they’re sort of rebuilding the ship as they go. They play in a very tough divison and have Trey Lance waiting to take over at QB. Whenver that happens, it probably would have been way better for him if he had Julio Jones to throw to.