Falcons New Coach Arthur Smith On The Julio Jones Deal: 'Win-Win' For Both Teams

The Atlanta Falcons made a big trade a few weeks back, moving long time wide out Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans for a couple of draft picks.

It was not an easy deal to get done, as Jones is due $15.3 million this season, and there were a number of teams that had interest, but the Titans were the ones that stepped up with the best deal.

The trade of Jones comes in the first offseason for new Falcons coach Arthur Smith, who takes over a team that went 4-12 a season ago and has a lot of work to do.

Smith recently appeared on Cris Collinsworth's podcast and says that it was a good trade. Having that $15.3 million off the books helps the Falcons get under the cap and sign their draft picks.

"We knew the issue with the cap, and then obviously the cap went down this year, coming off the bizarre year with the pandemic, the cap actually shrunk," Smith said.

"So we knew there were going to be some big decisions we would have to make coming up. The way everything worked out, we feel pretty good,"

"We feel like it was a win-win. With the salary cap, and Julio going to Tennessee and us right now being able to solve our short-term issue with the cap."

In exchange for the salary dump, the Falcons received a 2022 second-round pick and a late-round pick swap in 2023.

It remains to be seen whether it is indeed a 'win-win' for both teams and whether Jones will do enough in Tennessee to make his large salary worth it.