Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Trade For Julio Jones: Instant Reaction, Full Breakdown & Season-Changing Potential

Episode Date: June 7, 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 Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.

Julio! It is done. It is complete. On Sunday, the Tennessee Titans traded for the Hall of Famer, the legend, wide receiver Julio Jones. And I am breaking it all down from every angle on today's Locked on Titans podcast. We are going to talk about just the general details of the trade. What was traded?

What did the Titans give up? What all are they getting back? How is the money going to work out in this trade? We're just going to talk about all of the big time facts that need to be known. After that, we are going to dive into a big picture conversation and what this trade does, not only for the Titans wide receiver room, not only for the Titans offense, not only for the Titans wide receiver room, not only for the Titans offense, not only for the Titans team, but their Super Bowl chances. And I'll tell you how I think this impacts my season record prediction and how far they can go in this NFL season as well.

And then to cap off the show, we are just going to revel in this monumentous move a little bit more. There is a ton of buzz on social media, not only from the Tennessee Titans themselves, but a ton of NFL players league-wide, leading to one big time-free agent even saying that him and Julio should be a package deal. So, a lot going on. We are going to have a great time and break down this Julio Jones trade from every single angle possible. Make sure that you never miss a Monday through Friday episode of the Locked on Titans podcast by subscribing or following

on whatever platform you do stream. Follow me for additional content, my Tic Tac Titans film breakdowns, all kinds of extra goodies on social media, on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans, and on Facebook at Locked on Titans Pod. But today, it is everything Julio Jones. Julio! Let's get it! Julio Jones is officially a Tennessee Titan. And that feels good to say after we have been on hashtag JulioWatch2021

for what feels like almost a month now. We knew that the Tennessee Titans were in that race, and GM John Robinson seals the deal. We get word via Ian Rapoport on Twitter on Sunday morning, and it turned into just one of the best days in Tennessee Titans history. And of course, as we learned last year, offseason moves don't always turn into wins, but this is clearly a major improvement and a big move for the Titans, not only for this year, but

in franchise history. And let's talk about all of the little details that will actually make this trade work to start off this Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Number one, the trade compensation. What did the Titans have to give up? What did they get back in return? Well, I've been talking about for the last few weeks what the baseline compensation the Titans should be giving up is going to be.

And that is a 2022 second round pick. The Falcons were not going to get a first round pick for Julio Jones. That was evident all along despite some reports which we'll talk about in a moment but the Titans ultimately do give up exactly that the 2022 second round pick. In addition to that they give up their 2023 fourth round pick so a brilliant move by John Robinson not to take away two draft picks from next year's class and being able to push one of those draft picks, the later pick, into a future year 2023. So a second round pick in 2022, a fourth round pick in 2023.

In return, the Titans get the legend, the Hall of famer to be Julio Jones but also John Robinson gets a sixth round pick in 2023 so the Titans are going to be giving up that fourth round pick but they're minimizing the damage by getting back a sixth round pick in return so another sign another moment of brilliance for John Robinson in pulling off this trade. Now, in my mind, the Titans also gave the Atlanta Falcons the offensive wizard, Arthur Smith. And if you include that into the package, maybe it seems better for both parties. Maybe it seems not quite as good for the Titans overall. But either way, that's kind of how this works.

I think the relationship that was built there between Arthur, the trust with him, and the Titans organization also helped this out. So just a little kicker from my perspective that's added into this deal if you think about it from a large-scale perspective as well. Now, we've talked about the trade compensation. But the next big factor here is the financials. How does this trade work? Well, right now, the Titans have about $3.5 million in cap space. Julio Jones is slated to make $15.3 million this season alone, and then $11.5 million the next two seasons after this one. So a three-year deal. Right now, the Titans are

inheriting. And of course, as I pointed out on Twitter, at Tic Tac Titans, the Falcons were never going to eat any of Julio Jones' salary, so the Titans will absorb the entirety of that. So moving forward, how do the Titans create the cap space to make this deal happen? Well, it's easy, and I've been hinting at it for weeks, but the Titans never actually did any contract restructures while the rest of the league was in panic mode to create cap space before free agency.

John Robinson held that ace up his sleeve, and he's going to be able to use it now. Earlier last week, Ryan Tannehill said in a press conference that he hasn't been approached for a restructure yet, but he would be open. Of course, any player would want more of their money as soon as possible, which is what would happen from a restructure. And when the Titans restructure Ryan Tannehill, that's going to open up about $15.5 million. So that fits Julio Jones' salary in perfectly. But there's another kicker here.

According to a report from Paul Kaharski Julio Jones and the Titans are currently engaging on a salary cap restructure or extension with those two parties so if Julio Jones were to do something like that I think it would of course result in his cap hit going down this season which could not only make it easier for them to fit him in but could also give them some room to fit some other people in and one big name free agent was on Twitter on Sunday almost campaigning for that to happen but we are going to talk about that on the back end of the show so stay tuned but that is the overall package here. The Titans are getting Julio Jones in a 2023 sixth round pick in exchange for a 2022 second and a 2023 fourth. Julio Jones is going to cost

some money, but with a salary cap restructure of Ryan Tannehill, the Titans will be able to fit that in and then maybe a little bit more. A fantastic and brilliant move by Titans General Manager John Robinson that entirely elevates what this team can accomplish this year. And speaking of that, we are going to move into a conversation about just how different I think the Titans' prospects are long-term in the 2021 NFL season, now that they have acquired Julio Jones. So excited to dive into that next. Before we do, do want to remind you guys 2021 NFL season now that they have acquired Julio Jones.

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See rules. Banking services provided by MVB Bank Incorporated. Member FDIC. Maximum balance and transfer limits apply. Titans fans, we talked about all the gory details that made this trade work between the Falcons and the Titans. But now we need to zoom out a little bit and talk about the big picture and what this move does for the Tennessee Titans prospects in the 2021 NFL season. And I personally think it makes quite a big difference.

You take a look at the wide receiver group first and foremost. big difference. You take a look at the wide receiver group first and foremost. I have been talking for weeks about the fact that the Titans did not have a Super Bowl caliber wide receiver group. You had A.J. Brown, of course, a top 10 stud who can take coverage and all the eyes are locked on him. Of course, that's great. You've got to have that. Then Josh Reynolds. I've been very high on Josh Reynolds. I thought it was a great match all along before free agency even kicked off. But Josh Reynolds is more of a number three, sometimes number two guy. He's not enough. And then after that, the Titans had the random collection of guys that they mostly had last year, the Cam Batson, Nick Westbrook, Cody Hollister group of guys. And then there was some vets who were kind of roster adjacent at times within the division, Marcus Johnson,

Chester Rogers, nobody to really excite you there. Is any of that really doing anything for you? No. And I thought it was very concerning that the Titans only went out into the draft and got Des Fitzpatrick in the mid-rounds. I thought they needed to do a little bit more. But now you insert Julio Jones into that mix, and you look at a top three group of wide receivers with Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, Josh Reynolds. At that point, now we are talking about such a significant impact and such a significant improvement that the Titans

go from being one of the low-end wide receiver groups in the NFL to one of the best. And they may not be the best overall. I don't know where that conversation starts and begins at this moment in time. We'll discuss that down the road, of course, in a later edition this week on the Locked On Titans podcast. Make sure that you subscribe or follow on whatever platform you do stream. But overall, it elevates the group to one of the best in the league, and it gives them a real chance to win a Super Bowl.

And there are actual matchups that the Titans have on the schedule this year where this will make a significant impact. I already pointed out one earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Steelers. They love to bring the blitz. They love to stack the line of scrimmage. They love to make you beat man coverage, to make you beat their zones over and over and over again. The Titans now have two guys who can do that at a high level,

and it's going to make an impact when they can focus on A.J. Brown alone with what the Titans currently have. Of course, it looked like they were always going to be able to add something, whether it be a veteran out of free agency like Golden Tate or this. This was the high-end move, and the Titans pulled off the high-end move. And speaking of that, I think it makes them a high-end team. So earlier in the offseason when the schedule came out, I gave my season prediction. And I know a lot of you guys

were a little bit disappointed by what I ultimately had to say. And I had the Titans finishing at 10 and 7. And of course, you go game by game and who knows how all the games are going to turn out. But you know, last year, thought the Titans would be around 11 and 5, get the division championship. Ultimately, they did. And I saw them at about 10 and 7 this year still having a really really good chance of winning the division title but now based on like I mentioned with the Steelers there are certain matchups that are heavily suaded by having a Julio Jones out there as you would probably expect and I think that raises the Titans ceiling to finish 12 and 5 on the year and slam dunk division title for the Titans.

I think this move can take them there. So that's what I would say is my updated record prediction for the Titans. I would have them at 12-5 at this moment in time. And speaking of things outside of just the record overall and the numbers of the matter, where the Titans can go this year, I, with the 10-7 prediction, had them losing in the wildcard round or losing in the division round. Either way, not making it to the AFC championship game. And I'm moving off of that.

I do think this gives the Titans a chance to make it to that AFC championship game again that they went to in 2019 with what the Titans have done on the defensive side of the ball. You add Bud Dupree, you add Danico Autry, and speaking of, next we are going to talk about that big-time free agent who might be coming to Tennessee as a package deal with Julio. At least that's what he wants to do. We're going to talk about that at the end of the show, but you add another veteran pass rusher in there to go with Harold Landry, who you already have, Jeffrey Simmons along the defensive line. Now you're talking about an improved pass rush that really passes the sniff test. The Titans put a ton of resources into the secondary, at least in the draft, after cutting both their corners and their starting strong safety. You're getting a jump up from Imani Hooker who I'm high

on you add Jack Rabbit Jenkins you add Molden you add Farley in the draft I mean the Titans put a lot of resources towards the defensive side of the ball this offseason with hopes that the offense would still be as good as it was before and we knew that that wasn't going to be capable with the current receiver core with the current pass catching, and then here comes Julio Jones. So when you consider what they've done on defense that I just mentioned, that looked great, but how much would the Titans come back to earth on offense? Well, now the Titans might just stay up on Mars where they were last year and the year before.

So how do you stop Derrick Henry? How do you stop Julio Jones, Aio Jones AJ Brown all at the same time that's a question luckily that we don't have to answer going forward but ultimately outside of my record prediction to 12 and 5 outside of my prediction now that the Titans make it to at least the AFC championship game ultimately do just want to say what a great move by John Robinson and we're going to talk more about that some of the other buzzy topics that come along with such a glorious day on Sunday of the Titans trading for Julio Jones to cap off this Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast.

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Make sure you go to BuiltBar.com today. Use promo code LOCKED15 and you'll get 15% off your first order. Once again, that's promo code LOCKED15 for 15% off at BuiltBar.com. We are going to cap off this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by just continuing to bask in this moment, continuing to revel in the glory of this Julio Jones trade. And of course, of course, just because you make the big offseason move, the big shiny move, doesn't mean that you're

going to win. The Titans got the rawest end of the deal you could possibly get in that scenario last year with Jadavion Clowney and his limited production and his half of a season. Titans gave up a big chunk of change to have that Jadavion Clowney stinker on their record and on the field. So the Titans know that this doesn't always work. But on paper, against the sniff test, like Titans know that this doesn't always work, but on paper, against the sniff test, like I said, this is just an absolutely brilliant move for the Tennessee

Titans. That brings me to a point that I have to make here. I've been throwing in little hints throughout the show, but John Robinson, I'll tell you first and foremost, I will be the first to criticize John Robinson when I'm questioning things. The character concerns that he's missed on here recently, the draft picks, the things. There are some misses. But I've always said, overall, John Robinson is one of the best top 10 general managers in the NFL. He saved this franchise, and he's going to do what it takes to put the Titans in the

best position possible to win a championship. There are going to be some misses along the way and they're going to need to be some alterations to the process. Everybody has to learn from their mistakes, but John Robinson has shown us and again shows us he's not afraid to go out and get the big fish and make the big move. He did it with clowning last year and a lot of people killed that move and while it didn't work out, I don't fault John Robinson for doing it. When I talk about the character concerns, I never mention Clowney as one of those problems. That's not involved in the character concern misses at all.

That was a good move. That was a good risk for the Titans to take, and this is as well. So yeah, it's going to be some money. The Titans are going to have to restructure and move some money around. I bet they lower Julio Jones' cap hit by the end of this offseason and make things work in that way. I bet they sign on a couple more veteran free agents, and they're going to make it all work out.

But ultimately, I just appreciate that John Robinson will go for it. He's not scared. He's not timid. And I think I answered a mailbag question earlier in the offseason about what it would take basically for John Robinson to get fired. And this is why I said virtually nothing. He has completely changed this franchise. I mean, completely changed. Do you guys remember Zach Mettenberger, Jake Locker,

Charlie Whitehurst? I mean, since the Cary Collins season of 2008, it was a wasteland. And then John Robinson shows up, five straight winning seasons, almost got to a Super Bowl, studs on offense, one of the most exciting

teams in the NFL. Out making moves. This is just maybe a reflective mind state for me. I was initially super hype. And that brings me to something I wanted to tell you. I was live on the Locked On NFL Sunday show when the news broke. It was unbelievable. I didn't know what to do. They caught my literally instant reaction and turned it into a meme.

Make sure you check that out on Twitter, at TicTacTitans. Good stuff there, but just incredible. Everybody had such a good time on social media, and it wasn't just the fans. The Titans players were getting in on it. We got interviews from John Robinson. We got interviews from A.J. Brown. We got a meme from the Titans of Ryan Tannehill and his reaction as well.

You have NFL players out on social media calling the Titans the Tennessee Nets because they're getting all these players. There are other players online campaigning to come there. Like I was saying, speaking of that, Melvin Ingram, the decorated pass rusher who has played with the Chargers for his entire career, he went on social media and said that him and Julio Jones should be a package. Well, we'll take you.

So that's what I was saying earlier in the show. The Titans aren't just going to restructure Ryan Tannehill to clear up the $15 million they need. They're going to work on a deal with Julio Jones as well. And they might lower his cap hit from $15 million way down to $5 or $6 million, giving them another $9 million. Imagine if they bring in a Melvin Ingram to help with the pass rush. That would give them a little bit of money to maybe trade for a tight end as well. Now, John Robinson said in his press conference,

and we're going to break down all that audio on tomorrow's show, so make sure you check that out. But John Robinson already kind of put out there that it's going to be tough on the Titans to make some additional moves. But of course, he's never going to overplay his hand and tell the media too much. We got the report that they're working on the restructure with Julio as well. So the combination of those two things. But either way, the Titans get a couple more veterans added on because they just want to play in Tennessee. I mean, what a masterstroke by John Robinson.

Not only has he elevated the Tennessee Titans on the field? He has elevated the brand of the Tennessee Titans. The Tennessee Titans are one of the most exciting teams. You got veterans campaigning to be on the Titans. Their players are out on social media. A.J. Brown, Taylor LeJuan, Kevin Byard put out a video. They're out there campaigning for these guys, being out there, being present, letting guys know they want them in Tennessee. This is a winning culture. The Titans have had five winning seasons in a row, as I mentioned. I mean, just the whole entire feel of the Tennessee Titans is different now than, quite frankly, it's been since the Steve McNair, Eddie George days, where they were considered Titans in the NFL.

The Titans are just back to that in my mind right now, and they have to put a Super Bowl on the table to ultimately bring that to the full-fledged possible outcome but ultimately it feels like the Titans are taking steps there and this is a a really big year and I'm really excited for it and I also just want to take one moment to remember back when Diana Rossini tweeted out that the Falcons got offers for a first round pick and then also tweeted

out that the Titans were a long shot and I hate to be so pat my back the whole episode but we talked on this show and we talked on Twitter together about the fact that that was just her messaging for either team. The Falcons said, oh, we got a first-round pick. And they told her that so that she would go out

and maybe get somebody, the Titans, to offer a first-round pick. And then the Titans got that report from Diana, and John Robinson said back, oh, well, we're long shots to get them because we won't pay a first-round pick. And that's what those reports were. Just messaging. Just like we talked about on the show. So it's funny now that the deal is done that we see how it all played out.

What the Titans ultimately gave up. A 2022 second round pick. A 2023 fourth round pick for Julio Jones. And a 2023 sixth round pick in return. The Titans are going to restructure Ryan Tannehill's deal. They're working on restructuring Julio Jones to make the money work. Then the Titans are going to elevate their season potential here with this move to a potential Super Bowl run.

That's very exciting. It's just been a fantastic moment, a fantastic time for the Titans fandom. Just a great time to be a Tennessee Titan and very exciting in the middle of this long offseason. But I am going to be back with you guys tomorrow to continue breaking down the Julio Jones reaction. We're going to hear some audio from John Robinson, from A.J. Brown. We're going to talk just more in general about this monster move.

Make sure that you guys, like I said, follow me on Twitter, on Facebook, at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter, at Locked On Titans Pod on Facebook. Subscribe and follow the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Also, check out the Locked On Today podcast. I'm going to be on that tomorrow. It's all the biggest sports news in every major sport in under 20 minutes every single day. It's a great companion to the Locked on Titans podcast. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I am basically emotionally spent, and I know that you guys are right there with me.

But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.