Now that its June 1, one NFL team will land Falcons Julio Jones very soon

No need for speed

Why hasn’t a deal happened quickly?  Well, there are a number of complex reasons for that. In fact, it’s that complexity that has placed the Atlanta Falcons into a situation where they are exploring trade options. What complexities are we talking about? Let’s start with following the money.

Julio Jones believes that he is a precious commodity, but his contract does not reflect that in its latest iteration. So interested teams are vetting what that means financially. In other words, it’s not the asking price by the Falcons that is triggering a slow cautious pace by any interested team, but rather the hiccup that falls after a team gets Jones.

Julio Jones is not contracted to any guaranteed money by a new team, so he is vulnerable to being cut and being owed nothing. It’s that risk of not showing up if new contract negotiations become contentious that is likely triggering many teams to pause here.  Interested teams want to understand what the total cost of bringing aboard Julio Jones might entail.

Of course, the Falcons have not been in an express lane to deal away Julio Jones. That was due to the fact that the new NFL-NFLPA allows for a team facing a huge salary cap hit in one year to wait until June 1st and then have an option to stretch a salary-cap hit over two seasons.

That is why there has been a great deal of discussion and debate about the topic over a holiday weekend. There has been a lot of speculation and leaked information, in the meantime as numerous NFL teams try to outflank and position themselves for the most favorable outcome possible.