OCTOBER 10: Per the terms of the deal, which is now official, Atlanta will send Jones and their 2024 seventh-round pick to Cleveland for the Browns’ 2024 sixth-rounder. A statement from Falcons GM Terry Fontenot reads in part, “We thank Deion for the impact he has had over his seven seasons in Atlanta and wish him the best in his career.”
OCTOBER 9: Deion Jones‘ time in Atlanta has come to an end. The Falcons are trading the Pro Bowl linebacker to the Browns in exchange for late-round draft compensation (Twitter link via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport). ESPN’s Jake Trotter tweets that the teams will swap Day 3 picks in 2024.
The 27-year-old has long been the subject of trade talk, given the size of his contract. Rapoport notes that Cleveland will absorb the remainder of his deal, though they will be on the hook for a 2022 base salary of only $1.14MM, due to a recent restructure.
Still, the fact that another three years remained on Jones’ deal with cap hits of over $13MM this year, and more than $20MM next, makes this another successful financial move from the Falcons’ perspective. The team will incur a dead cap charge of $12.14MM in 2023, per Rapoport’s colleague Tom Pelissero (Twitter link). For the Browns, the fact that no guaranteed money remains after 2022 made this acquisition a feasible one.
Jones is currently on IR, as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery. When he is able to take the field, though, he will add a veteran presence to a Browns LB corps which lost Anthony Walker for the season. Jones – who has topped 100 tackles in all but one of his six seasons in the NFL, and notched 11 interceptions – has plenty of pedigree in both the pass and run game.
This move marks one of several financially-driven transactions for Atlanta. The team is already eating a record-breaking dead cap charge from quarterback Matt Ryan, in an effort to carve out space beginning in 2023. This trade will help accomplish that goal, though it still represents an underwhelming end to the former second-rounder’s tenure with the only franchise he had played for. In Cleveland, a team with greater 2022 aspirations and which, Rapoport notes, was looking to be active on the trade market, Jones will look to rebuild his value and contribute on a highly-regarded defense.
Lol so 75 mil cap hit on Watson and Jones alone next year?
Contract restructures are a beautiful thing
Players do have to agree…
Jones may faced with a decision to restructure or hit the open market with little to no value (see Jarvis this year). Watson will have all salary converted to bonus and get paid the same
Not always
I believe they are carrying over close to 50 million in cap. I’m guessing they’ll rework Jones contract since he has no guarantee money after this year. My only question is why trade for a guy that’s still injured? Eagles win again
What are you doing Cleveland?
pretending they’re not 2-3
The whole league is 2-3 or 3-2….except for the 5-0 Eagles and the lucky not to be 0-5 Steelers
There’s another 10 teams with either 4 wins or 1 win and the Steelers are not 1-5, but other than that you’re bang on…
I never said they were 1-5. I said they were lucky not to be 0-5 which they would be if the Bengals didn’t lose their long snapper. But you’re not a Steelers fan, you’re a Penguins fan. As if you couldn’t be both
But you did say “the whole league is 2-3 or 3-2” and was only off by 1/3. Not a Penguins or Steelers fan, so WTF does that babbling have to do with anything?
Can you show me where I said 1-5? “0” is a zero
Debo was a baller his first few years. I vividly remember his pick 6 against the Saints in the Superdome his rookie year. Once he got the bag he cratered big time.
He is still a good linebacker. The defense and coaching regimes have changed his role, and his injuries took an effect on his lateral mobility, which was Jones’ biggest strength. I do not know if Cleveland is it, but Jones could certainly be a great addition for the right team or defensive scheme.
I think that he could excel, for example, in Dallas’ or Las Vegas’ schemes, or possibly New Orleans’ or Seattle’s, if those teams had been interested. If you’re not worried about cap space, a late round pick for a not-that-old Pro Bowl linebacker is not a bad bet.
Cleveland has a serious DC issue that can not be fixed by any defensive addition..
Their defense is very overrated.
I wouldn’t say it’s overrated, because there’s a LOT of talent there (especially in the secondary). The issue is that every week they never look prepared; it’s easy to blame Joe Woods for that (which I’ve done a lot lol), whether that’s fair or not.
They usually play well for pretty long stretches, but then they give up a big play on a boneheaded blown coverage, or teams just kill them with the run and they don’t look ready. In the Falcons game the week before, I think Atlanta ran it like 11 times in a row and every time the Browns looked just as surprised as they did the play before.
So I wouldn’t say they’re overrated, but they’re too good to be blowing games with easily preventable lapses in focus.
You just described overrated. Talent that is not getting the job done
I guess we’re just looking at it the same way but using two different words. They’re a good defense, just not very consistent.