The 49ers already took a big swing this offseason when they traded up to the No. 3 overall pick. Now there’s an opportunity to make another big splash. Jeff Schultz of the Athletic wrote that the Falcons under new general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith would like to move wide receiver Julio Jones to help alleviate a volatile cap situation.
This is something the 49ers, with their unproven receiving corps, should be making calls on.
San Francisco off the bat is handicapped by the fact they’re without first-round picks in either of the next two drafts, and they’ve already unloaded their supplemental third-round selection in the 2022 draft.
Any deal for the 32-year-old receiver would need to start with a second-round pick in 2022, and maybe a second or third-round choice in 2023. That feels like a steal for the 49ers, but it’s where their best offer is going to land.
It remains to be seen what kind of market there will be for Jones, and whether another club will come over the top and offer a first-round pick and then some. If that’s the case, San Francisco would be out of the running early.
Adding Jones is the kind of move that would elevate the 49ers’ passing game to a level it can only reach with a player of Jones’ caliber. There are maybe three pass catchers in the league that impact games the way he does.
Between 2014 and 2019, Jones averaged 103.8 receptions, 1,564.7 yards and 6.2 touchdowns per season. During that stretch he went to six Pro Bowls and earned two First-Team All-Pro nods, both of which came while Shanahan was the Falcons’ offensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016.
Jones is a big, fast, physical pass catcher that would step in and be the team’ No. 1 target right away, while taking a lot of the focus off Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. Not to mention adding a security blanket like Jones would be especially helpful for a young quarterback.
His cap numbers over the next three years are $15.3 million, $11.5 million and $11.5 million according to Over the Cap. While those numbers are high for a receiver, the 49ers are in a spot to withstand that kind of cap hit, especially if Jimmy Garoppolo’s contract comes off the books next year while the salary cap sees an uptick. Any minor cap maneuvering in 2021 would be well worth the addition of one of the league’s most dominant wide receivers.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan in 2018 said he’d do whatever it took to get Jones if given the opportunity. The opportunity is there, and the 49ers should be turning over every leaf to make a deal happen.
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