Everyone seems to have a take on Julio Jones potentially coming to the Patriots via trade.
Appearing on NBC Sports Boston's Next Pats podcast with Phil Perry last week, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer had a somewhat different perspective -- how Julio Jones would help Mac Jones.
"With all these young quarterbacks, we talk about that window. To take advantage of that window, the guy's gotta be rolling going into Year 2," Breer said. "Realistically, if you really hit on that pick, you're probably paying him after Year 3. That's what history tells us. [Deshaun] Watson got paid after Year 3, I think Josh Allen's gonna get paid after Year 3, [Patrick] Mahomes got paid after Year 3, [Jared] Goff got paid after Year 3, [Carson] Wentz. If you hit on that pick, you're paying him after Year 3.
"So that's what's interesting about it to me. That's how I think you tie the whole thing together. If you bring in Julio, you give yourself a better chance to have Mac really rolling going into Year 2, and now all of a sudden we can really take advantage of having that quarterback on a rookie deal window."
Breer also pointed out how Julio Jones would help Mac Jones when it comes to throwing into tight windows, which is much different than the college game.
"It's nice to be able to throw the ball up to Julio and just kind of say a prayer and he'll probably come down with it," he said. "It's also the equation with the other guys. Now, the way those windows tighten up going college to pro, maybe the difference is a little different now because there's one guy who's taking coverage with him. That's presuming that the Julio that we knew for nine years still exists, and I think that's a fair to question to ask of whether or not that's the case."
The Falcons get salary cap benefits by trading Julio Jones after June 1, so perhaps a deal happens this week.