Sources: Tennessee Titans plan to release WR Julio Jones
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans are planning to release wide receiver Julio Jones, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and Dianna Russini on Wednesday.
Jones was signed through the 2024 season. It is likely he will be released with a post-June 1 designation, giving the Titans $9.5 million in salary-cap savings.
The Titans acquired Jones last year along with a 2023 sixth-round draft pick from the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick. The move was supposed to provide much-needed balance to Tennessee's passing attack.
Jones, however, appeared in just 10 games because of injuries and had career lows with 31 receptions for 434 yards and just one touchdown reception.
"It looked like we were headed in the right direction and then had some setbacks along the way," Titans general manager Jon Robinson said at the NFL scouting combine. "Unfortunately, he wasn't out there enough to really make an impact week after week. When he was out there, he helped our football team. But it was one of those things that seemed like a nick every week that we were trying to work through. That's a balance that you always work through as players' careers start to get a little longer. You see some things and wonder if that was an isolated instance or is this going to be a repetitive thing."
It was the second straight season Jones was limited by injury. He appeared in just nine games for the Falcons in 2020.
The Titans will now have A.J. Brown and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine as the top receivers on their depth chart after Jones' release.
Brown paid tribute to Jones on Wednesday, tweeting: "You have taught me a lot in a short period of time. I'm grateful to be apart of you journey. You're the reason why I started to begin to play this game. A HOF receiver is what you are and what I strive to be one day. Thank you, I'll take it from here! Salute!"
The Falcons drafted Jones sixth overall in 2011, sending multiple picks to Cleveland to be able to take the Alabama standout. Atlanta, when it moved up to acquire Jones, traded its first-round pick in 2011 (No. 26), its second-round pick, two fourth-round picks and its 2012 first-round pick.
Jones, 33, is the Falcons' career leader in catches (848) and yards (12,896) and is second to Roddy White in touchdown receptions (63). His 91.9 receiving yards per game is the best per-game average in NFL history.
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