On Sunday night, the Atlanta Falcons decided to cut ties with former Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones, sending him to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a swap of late-round picks in 2024. The Falcons are sending Jones and a sixth-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for a seventh-round pick.
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The move has been on the back burner for quite some time as the second-round pick out of LSU in 2016 has dealt with injuries recently. After making the Pro Bowl in 2017, “Debo” missed significant time in 2018 before returning to the field and starting every game up until last season. He has tallied over 100 tackles in all but one of his six NFL seasons and also has 11 career interceptions on his resume.
After shoulder surgery this offseason, Jones was placed on injured reserve and was on the PUP list for most of training camp.
The 27-year-old was given a four-year, $57 million extension in 2019 while Thomas Dimitroff was still in the GM position but his contract has been restructured twice, most recently this past September to convert his $8.5 million salary into a signing bonus. The deal also dropped his base salary for 2022 to $1.14 million, freeing up cap space and making a deal more accessible to other teams in the league.
With a new regime in place in Atlanta, GM Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith seemed comfortable with moving on from Jones.
Coach Smith turned to a familiar face from his time in Tennessee by signing LB Rashaan Evans to a one-year deal this offseason. Mykal Walker, a fourth-round pick by the team in 2020, has excelled on the field and taken over at the other inside linebacker position. The team also drafted LB Troy Andersen from Montana St. in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, making Jones all but expendable going into this season.
Jones started 83 of 85 games during his time in Atlanta, recording 652 tackles with 11 interceptions and 8.5 sacks. He now adds a veteran presence to a Browns defense that has dealt with some injury issues at the linebacker position this season.