Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - #JulioWatch2021: Julio Wants Out, Trade Packages & Offseason OTA Updates

Episode Date: May 25, 2021

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You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by the Peacock and Williamson podcast. NFL analyst Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson host Locked On's Peacock and Williamson every Monday through Friday. Brian and Matt give you a national perspective on all the latest NFL news.

Make sure you check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. But this Tuesday edition of the Locked On Podcast Network. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. But this Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast can be summed up in one word. Julio! That's right. We got a major, major plot point

in Julio Watch 21 on Monday. And I'm going to be breaking down the big news while Julio Jones himself went on live television, whether he knew it or not, and declared that he was out of there when it comes to playing for the Atlanta Falcons. And we got some pretty important information on how this all played out that we did not previously know. So we're going to talk about all the latest developments in Julio Watch 21 and then we're also going to talk about what sort of compensation the Titans would have to give up to make this

trade a reality. I'm going to dive into that and get a little help from you guys in our Twitter Tuesday segment of the day, looking over a poll where you guys told me what you think fair compensation would be. And then we are going to talk about the latest updates when it comes to off-season workouts, the Titans, organized team activities. We're set up to start on Monday. So we'll talk about the latest information there as well.

So a big Tuesday edition here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. Well, Titans fans, we are back. Back in a familiar position as we sit there with our eyes on a big-name target, hoping to lure them into Nashville. Of course, we've dealt with this in recent years with Jadavian Clowney. Watch 2020. It had a little element of that when it comes to Tom Brady before he chose the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Of course, one of the most high-profile situations of that nature was the pursuit of Peyton Manning

back in the day. So Titans fans are used to this, quite frankly, but last year the Titans did land Jadavion Clowney, and although that move didn't necessarily work out, it felt good to finally be the bell of the ball and be the person that got told yes and got chosen by the superstar athlete. And this situation is not the same with Julio Jones because he does need to be traded by his team. So it's not entirely up to Julio where he goes. But certainly it looks like from the information we got today, he is having a bigger impact

on this process than previously expected. So big, huge news on Monday morning when Shannon Sharp, co-host of Undisputed on Fox Sports 1, obviously one of those arguing, talking head shows, but Shannon Sharp called Julio Jones live on the show. Now, right now, we don't know if Julio knew that he was being called live on the show. I have a hard time believing that Shannon Sharp would just do that to Julio Jones, call him live on national television and not let him know that's going to happen. A quick text message, hey man, I'm going to give you a call. We're on the show.

Let me know what's going on. Something like that I think happened, but we don't know right now, and I'm certain that Shannon Sharp will clarify that on his show tomorrow. But basically Julio answered the phone for Shannon Sharp, and he asked him if he was looking to be out of Atlanta, and he said, I'm out of there. And then, of course, Skip Bayless, the other co-host, big Cowboys person, everyone knows that, asked about going to the Cowboys,

and Julio said, quote, I want to win. Like, he doesn't want to go to Dallas. And then he ended up confirming he's not going to Dallas. And the internet basically went astir, went abuzz. I mean, this is Julio Jones coming out publicly and saying he will not be in Atlanta later this year. It's taken away the mystery of, hey, will he even be traded? Not only who will he be traded to,

but here's where things got pretty interesting. This is coming from Ian Rappaport from NFL.com, and he said, clarity on the situation between the Falcons and wide receiver Julio Jones. The All-Pro requested a trade from the organization a few months ago. Sources say the team then agreed to listen to offers. That's how it began and why it continues. And then Adam Schefter came in with some additional information and then said Atlanta has asked teams that have inquired about Julio Jones

for a first-round draft pick in return per sources. Others around the league don't believe the Falcons ultimately will get a first for the perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver he also added the Falcons prefer not to trade Julio Jones in the NFC but would do so for the right price but now with Jones winning out of Atlanta they are looking for the best value in either conference so kind of making our way through those things. Apparently it was Julio that wanted out of the situation in Atlanta. It's very confusing to me. We'll dive a little bit more into what might have happened there at some point.

But looking at this compensation and what Schefter is saying here, the writing on the wall for me is they don't want to trade Julio to the NFC, but they also do want to get as much value as possible. Now the last thing that I want to talk about before we move into the Twitter Tuesday segment of our show the odds now when I say the odds I mean the gambling odds because something very very interesting happened midway through the day in a few sports books one FanDuel sports book took the Titans up to the best odds of any team in the NFL at plus 175 to be Julio Jones's next team.

So that was quite the development. And then we saw at OddsCheckers.com, Tennessee, the consensus odds around the internet, Tennessee had jumped up to the favorite. And it's worth noting that on both of these odds lists that I'm talking about, where they have the Titans at a plus 175, which is basically like a 36% chance they get them. Atlanta themselves was number two at plus 250 in both of those. So I mean, I'm, I'm feeling pretty good right now about the Titans' chances to get Julio Jones. But what would it take for them to actually land his services in a trade? I enlisted a little bit of help from you guys,

seeing which package I put together you thought would be the most realistic and the most acceptable for the Titans to put out there to go out and get Julio Jones. We're going to talk about the financial ramifications of a trade. We're going to talk about what the Titans can do to make room for Julio Jones because they certainly don't have enough right now. And then we're also going to talk about which of the four packages I put out there I think is most realistic and whether or not you guys agree with me along

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as I enlist a little bit of help from you guys on social media looking at which package you think would be best for the Titans to use to go out and get Julio Jones. Before we get into that,, do want to remind you guys that every single update along the way on Julio Watch 21 can be found here on the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to be putting out Monday through Friday daily Tennessee Titans content.

You cannot find that anywhere else. So make sure you never miss an episode and subscribe or follow the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But I want to go back to those Adam Schefter tweets real quick that we talked about in the beginning of the show. And as I just simply slide into my bookmarks to be ready to do that. The first one was Atlanta has asked teams that have inquired about Julio Jones

for a first round draft pick in return. Remember, that would be in 2022's draft. Others around the league don't believe the Falcons ultimately will get a first for the perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver. So, that goes back to what I have been saying throughout this entire Julio Jones process. A second round pick in 2022 is the starting mark. That should be the highest value asset that the Titans have to give up to make this trade go down, a second round pick in next year's draft. Now, there are multiple factors at work here.

Number one, this has to be the case. This Julio Jones trade would not have happened prior to this year's draft in 2021 because the big financial savings that the Falcons are looking to get, clearing out $15 million of cap space are only going to be had if they trade Julio Jones after June the 1st. So this trade is not going to happen until after June the 1st for that reason. And here's the big kicker. The Falcons need $13 million to sign their draft class. They have about $300,000 in cap space right now. So they have to make this move.

And the Falcons did a good job through Adam Schefter and through Ian Rappaport positioning this as if it's a request from Julio Jones. And they don't really want to trade Julio Jones. He requested a trade and we want to take care of him. No. The Falcons are just as excited about the prospect of trading Julio Jones as Julio Jones is to take care of him. No. The Falcons are just as excited about the prospect of trading Julio Jones

as Julio Jones is to get out of there. Trading him just solves their financial problems in the short term. It helps them out in the long term because Julio is worth $15 million this year, but only $11.5 million the next two seasons. But from Atlanta's perspective, they're going to have to give Calvin Ridley big money, and they just drafted Kyle Pitts.

The wide receiver position is marginalized in an Arthur Smith offense anyways, so I do see why the Falcons would be interested in this move, but speaking of the financial aspect here, the Titans only have about $3.5 million of cap space, so how can they trade for Julio Jones when he's worth $15 million this year? Well, I talked about this in a previous episode, but John Robinson has his ace in the hole. The Titans moved around their cap space and did what they needed to do to create cap space

without restructuring any contracts and pushing signing bonus money into the future. But the reality is with a move like this on the table for Julio, John Robinson has to go out and get that restructure done with Ryan Tannehill. That saves the Titans $20 million in cap space. You know you're going to have Ryan Tannehill on the team, so I'm okay with pushing some of that money.

I'm okay with restructuring that deal. I'm okay with giving up some assets to get this player in the building. The Titans are in their Super Bowl window now. I've been saying this since last season. The Super Bowl window for this core of players, Ryan Tannehill, A.J. Brown, Derrick Henry, Kevin Byard, this core of players, it's not going to be around forever, guys. The NFL, things are fleeting.

The Titans need to do all they can to create a Super Bowl winning roster. And quite frankly, right now, the pass-catching group is not Super Bowl worthy. So, the Titans restructure Ryan Tannehill saves them 20 million dollars on the cap they can absorb the 15 million for Julio Jones Julio Jones at an 11 and a half million dollar rate the next two seasons is a bargain compared to what you're seeing guys like Nelson Aguilar and Kendrick Bourne and things like that go so that's a bargain for the Titans. Plus, the salary cap is going to shoot back up here soon due to the new TV deal and due to the pandemic going away. We're going to have full stadiums. So that's not going to affect the owner's money

and the salary cap as much. So it makes all the sense in the world financially for the Titans to do this. But what about compensation? So we said the Falcons want to trade him. The Titans are number one in the odds right now to land him. The financials, although they don't look like they could work out on the surface, the Titans are one ace in the hole away from easily being able to pull off this move.

What would get the deal done then compensation-wise? Well, I put out a poll on Twitter today asking you guys what you think fair compensation is. Because I have a few packages in my head and not all of them are of equal value. It just depends on what the Falcons ultimately accept. So I'm not saying that all four of these packages are equal. I'm just saying that these are the four packages in my head that I think realistically could happen. Number one, the one that I think is most likely, the one that I think will get the job done,

one, the one that I think is most likely, the one that I think will get the job done, a 2022 second round pick and a 2022 fourth round pick. Now, why would the Titans do that? One, the second round pick, we talked about the Schefter tweet. He said that people around the NFL don't think they're going to get a first round pick for Julio. I have always said they're not going to get a first round pick for Julio, which means that a second round pick is definitely the highest asset they're going to get. So the Titans need to offer that to beat out the competition one. And then I think you're going to get a lot of fifth

and sixth round pick offers as well. And that's why the Titans should go in there and offer a fourth round pick. Right now, based on the compensatory pick formula, as we know it, the Titans should get an extra fourth round pick in next year's draft like they got an extra third in this draft so with that in mind i think that the titans need to throw in their fourth round pick along with their second round pick they'll get that fourth round pick replaced by their compensatory pick so you're really only giving up a 2022 second round pick to land julio jones that makes all the sense in the world. And that was the winner of the poll. 49% of the couple hundred of you guys that voted before I got into the booth to do the

show said that you like that draft or that trade offer the best. A 2022 second round pick and a 2022 fourth. But what if the Falcons want a little bit more? And what if they want a player in return? Well, I think that package, a 2022 second rounder and a 2022 fourth rounder with Rashawn Evans makes a lot of sense. Evans is in the last year of his rookie deal, so he's not incredibly expensive. It wouldn't ruin the cap space that the Falcons are trying to create right now. Also, you get Rashawn Evans matched up again with Dean Pease, who was his defensive coordinator

in his most productive seasons. The Falcons could take a chance on him playing at edge like I've said the Titans should be doing anyway. So it's a low risk, high reward asset for the Falcons to take in with Rashawn Evans that doesn't ruin the financial aspects of the trade. And they get the draft compensation that we talked about originally that was the second most popular draft class or a trade offer package that you guys voted on on Twitter and then I said hey just a cold hard 2022 first round pick nothing else people didn't really like that prospect I don't really like that

either but in my opinion if if the Titans can just throw a 2022 first out there and nothing else and beat every other package that they're competing against, I'm okay with them doing that. Rashawn Evans. Isaiah Wilson. Adoree Jackson. I mean, John Robinson isn't that incredible with this first round pick anyways. So yeah, I would be okay with that. Although that's obviously I kind of agree with you guys.

That's my third most likely. And then the last one here is just, you know, that sweetener, that cherry on top, the candles on the cake for the Falcons. It's the 2022 second, 2022 fourth, which is the best package that everyone agreed on, but then throwing in an additional sixth rounder, which is basically like Rashawn Evans. I think the Titans could get a low sixth rounder for Rashawn right now. So for me, that package would make a lot of sense as well. I would actually call that the second most likely package for the Titans, the second,

the fourth, and the sixth. But I agree with all of you guys that a second and a fourth rounder in 2022 should be able to get this deal done for the Titans to get Julio Jones in the building. But we are going to talk about some of the veterans and some of the rookies in the building right now as the Titans offseason program continues. Before we get into that, I do want to remind you guys about rockauto.com. Rockauto.com is a family business that's been serving auto parts customers online for over 20 years. Check out their catalog right now. It's unique. It's remarkably easy to use, and with a few easy clicks, you can get anything that you need delivered directly to your door.

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We have discussed the Julio Jones news at length, including all of the latest updates from the bombshell information we got on Monday morning and everything that proceeded. Talked about trade packages for Julio Jones that would make sense and ones that you guys liked when I put that question out to you on Twitter. But now, going to change focus here at the very tail end of our show and talk about some of the Titans off-season workouts that were scheduled to start on Monday. Before we dive into that, do want to remind you guys about the Locked On Today podcast

hosted by the great Peter Bukowski. It's all of the major sports stories in every major sport in under 20 minutes every morning. It's like having the sports section read to you. Make sure you check out the Locked On Today podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But remember, the Titans are in the middle of the offseason program. The Titans are in the middle of the offseason program, and as of May the 24th, on Monday, we entered phase three that included some organized team activities, not just for the rookies like the rookie minicamp, but for veterans as well. Technically, the entire team can arrive to this event, the Titans have recent mini camps here on the 24th which was yesterday by the time you hear this the 25th today and then on the 27th as well they have more next

week but for this week those are the days that they are expected to have those and the real question becomes how many Tennessee Titans veterans are going to show up remember the Titans were one of the teams that put out a joint statement with some other teams in the NFL basically saying that some of their players would boycott or just skip any organized team activities I was disappointed to hear that the Titans were one of the teams that came out and said that as I want them to be as ahead as possible in their training, getting ready for the season. But there's obviously justifiable reasons for that response from the players as well.

But an interesting tweet from Tom Pelissero from the NFL Network about that. He said, At least 22 teams have modified plans for OTA starting this week after discussions between players and coaches, reducing tempo and or the number of practices per sources. Some veterans still are staying away, but after weeks of boycott talk and statements, many are showing up. So basically, here's what happened.

The players were like, coach, man, these all-season workouts are just too intense. I don't want to come. I'm just going to keep working with my trainer. And then the coaches were like, well, what if we just, you know, chilled out a little bit, man? You know, we'll slow it down for you. We won't, you know, have you guys in so early. We won't have you in so many days as veterans. But when the veterans were like, all right, cool, sounds good, we'll be there.

Now, I don't know if the Titans are included in one of the 22 teams that Tom Pelissero speaks of, but either way, well, I hope they are, but either way, to me, in the Titans statement, they said like we respect some sort of, I'm paraphrasing here, they basically said some sort of, we understand paraphrasing here, they basically said some sort of we understand that some people will need to go into the facility for whatever

reason, but basically it's okay if you don't. So I'm guessing that a lot of Titans veterans will be in the building. I'm guessing that a lot of Titans veterans will show up to be a part of the organized team activities, and I'm certainly hoping for that as well. But it will be something to monitor and as soon as we have a good idea on how many players were in attendance what things looked like I'll make sure to give you guys a recap here

on the Locked on Titans podcast but that's going to do it for me today folks I will be back with you guys tomorrow as always I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans.