Titans restructure QB Ryan Tannehill's contract to fit Julio Jones under the salary cap

Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill has a new weapon in Julio Jones and a newly restructured contract to fit the star receiver under the Titans' salary cap.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport reported that the Titans are restructuring the quarterback’s contract to free up more than $15 million in cap space.

To facilitate the completion of the trade of former #Falcons WR Julio Jones, the #Titans are doing a simple restructure of QB Ryan Tannehill’s contract for 2021 to create more than $15M in cap space, source said. Jones will make $15.3M guaranteed this season.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 8, 2021

It’s believed the Titans are converting some of Tannehill’s guaranteed salary into a signing bonus and spreading it over the next three years.

Ryan Tannehill signed a four-year, $118 million contract with the Titans in 2020. The restructure lowers his cap hit in 2021, but it will increase over the future of his deal.

Julio Jones is scheduled to make a fully guaranteed $15.3 million this season, which means Tenneesse needed to indulge in some creative accounting to squeeze under the cap for 2021.

According to Over the Cap, the Titans had approximately $2.36 million in cap space before Tannehill's restructure.

Julio Jones to the Titans trade details

Tennessee traded a 2022 second-round pick as well as a 2023-fourth-rounder for the former Falcons wide receiver. The Titans will also receive a 2023 sixth-round pick as part of the deal with Atlanta.

While it’s not the first-round pick that Atlanta reportedly wanted, they did manage to offload Julio Jones’ significant contract. The 32-year-old wideout only has $2 million guaranteed on his deal for 2022.

The receiver's hefty contract this year was one of the reasons many teams balked at the idea of trading for him.

Titans' fearsome new offense

The addition of seven-time Pro Bowler Julio Jones makes the Tennessee Titans' offense one of the most menacing in the league. Ryan Tannehill now has an explosive trio of A.J. Brown, Julio Jones and Derrick Henry to work with in 2021.

Please excuse my language when I say this “y’all done F*cked up “ pic.twitter.com/TbI4SrkTVp
— AJ Brown (@1kalwaysopen_) June 6, 2021

Brown has posted 1,000-plus receiving yards in each of his first two NFL seasons. Meanwhile, Titans running back Derrick Henry has led the NFL in rushing yards over the last two seasons and scored 33 touchdowns during this period.

Julio Jones has seven 1,000-yard seasons and 60 touchdowns in his ten-year NFL career.

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