As the Falcons hope and wait for someone to emerge with an offer for the Julio Jones contract, multiple teams undoubtedly have worked mentally and verbally through the possibility. The Patriots, not shockingly, are one of them.
Mike Giardi of NFL Media reports that the Patriots “have had internal discussions” about Jones. In a follow-up tweet, Giardi adds this caveat: “The seriousness of those discussions weren’t made known to me so I shall not speculate.”
That’s an important P.S. The “internal discussions” may have simply been a quick conversation that culminated in a decision not to pursue Jones. Or they may have led to a plan to, at the right time, swoop in with a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Or something in the wide gap in between.
It’s no surprise that the Patriots had “internal discussions.” Many teams should at least do that. The question is whether those “internal discussions” will lead anywhere.
The Patriots have the cap space to absorb Jones’ $15.3 million base salary for 2021. In free agency, they signed receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne, along with tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry.
It would nevertheless be fitting for the Patriots to make the move. When then-Falcons G.M. Thomas Dimitroff considered making a big move up in the draft a decade ago to get Jones, he sought input from his former boss, Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick advised against it.
It will be interesting to know whether Belichick has sought out Dimitroff’s advice regarding a trade for Jones now -- and whether Dimitroff would advise against it.