Falcons Coach Smith Says Chats With Players, Including Jones, Are Private

Things appear to be getting more and more tense between wide receiver Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons, as there's still a lot of chatter that the team is going to trade the veteran wide out.

Jones, who has played 10 years in the NFL, all for the Falcons, had a phone chat with Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe that was shown live on FS1, and Jones was heard saying, “I’m out of there,” in reference to Atlanta.

The Falcons have a new coach, Arthur Smith, who told reporters Tuesday that private conversations between the players and team stay on the down low.

“ should speak for themselves,” Smith said, via Zach Klein of WSB.

“I’m not going to comment, it doesn’t change anything for us. We understand what our plan is moving forward. We have multiple private conversations with our players, and those are conversations that are going to stay private on my end.”

The 32-year-old Jones is on tap to make quite the salary in 2021: $15.3 million guaranteed.

Atlanta is in dire need of money to be able to sign their draft picks, and moving Jones is one way the team can save money right away.

There have been rumors, but no movement for Jones yet, and until that happens, the wide out remains on the Falcons roster for the 2021 campaign.