Julio Jones to the Buccaneers? Tom Brady and Mike Evans' latest moves suggest so
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers heard the worst possible news on February 1st when Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL. Many thought this could cause a debacle and potential rebuild with the Bucs that would have set them back. Fast forward 40 days later, the Bucs received the best possible news: Brady was coming out of retirement.
Now that Brady is back, it has helped keep some key players from the Bucs Super Bowl run. Center Ryan Jensen re-signed with the team, Chris Godwin agreed to a new three-year extension, they signed Russell Gage, Carlton Davis re-signed with the team, they traded for guard Shaq Mason (who Brady played with before), and also signed DB Logan Ryan, another former teammate of Brady.
The next person the Bucs are trying to recruit to help them win another Super Bowl is wide receiver, Julio Jones. Brady reportedly slid into Jones' DMs, telling him to come down to Tampa so the two can be great together.
Tom Brady recruiting Julio Jones to Tampa 👀 https://t.co/k7jmGwhADT
Brady isn't the only Bucs player that is helping that possibility come to reality: wide receiver Mike Evans restructured his contract, creating $11 million in cap space for the Bucs. Could the Bucs potentially use the additional cap space to acquire Julio Jones? Maybe. According to overthecap.com, the Bucs are currently over the cap (-$246,029), and they'll have to continue making moves to create cap space.
Buccaneers WR Mike Evans restructures contract, creating nearly $11 million in cap room for Tampa Bay dlvr.it/SLtQ2x
The Tennesse Titans released Julio Jones after one season
Last season, the Tennesse Titans acquired Julio Jones from the Atlanta Falcons via trade. The Titans gave up a 2022 2nd-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick to the Falcons for Jones. In his lone season with the Titans, Jones played in 10 regular-season games, recording 31 receptions, 434 yards, and just one touchdown.
This was undoubtedly a step-down for the 11-year receiver, who has put up seven 1,000+ yard receiving yard seasons in his career. The three other seasons where he didn't record 1,000+ yards were seasons where he missed games due to injuries, including his rookie season.
On the Falcons, Jones made the first-team All-Pro twice, led the league in receiving yards twice, made the Pro-Bowl seven times, and averaged the most receiving yards per game (91.9). Jones still has some juice left in the tank, and the best person to unleash that would be Tom Brady.