Julio Jones Announces Retirement

Julio Jones bounced around the NFL during the 2020s, but the former Falcons first-rounder authored one of the most productive careers in the history of the wide receiver position. After not playing in 2024, Jones is retiring.

The 13-year veteran confirmed his NFL exit Friday via social media. Rivaling Hall of Fame defensive end Claude Humphrey and perhaps Matt Ryan as the greatest players in Falcons history, Jones retires after earning All-Decade honors for the 2010s. His prolific stretch from 2014-19 remains unmatched at the position in terms of receiving yardage.

A five-time All-Pro with two first-team honors (2015, 2016), Jones rivaled Antonio Brown as the top receiver of the 2010s. From 2014-19, the all-around great accumulated 9,388 receiving yards. That is the most during a six-season stretch in NFL history. While hamstring injuries slowed Jones in the early 2020s, he finished his career with 914 receptions for 13,703 yards and 66 touchdowns. Jones’ yardage total ranks 16th in NFL annals.

It took a blockbuster trade package for the Falcons to obtain Jones in the first place. Then-Atlanta GM Thomas Dimitroff sent Nos. 26, 59 and 124, along with 2012 first- and fourth-rounders, to Cleveland for No. 6. The Browns did not make out well in that trade, but the Falcons gave Roddy White a wingman who eventually became their aerial ace. Jones played a lead role for a Falcons team that booked the NFC’s No. 1 seed in 2012 and was even better two years later, when the franchise assembled one of the greatest offenses in NFL history.

Kyle Shanahan‘s second season as OC produced 33.8 points per game; that remains tied for eighth in the Super Bowl era. After a career-best 1,871 yards in 2015, Jones posted 1,409 in just 14 games to rocket the ’16 Falcons to the NFC’s No. 2 seed. Along with MVP Ryan, Jones powered that squad to Super Bowl LI with a 180-yard, two-TD showing in an NFC championship game romp over the Packers. Jones added 87 yards in the Super Bowl, including a marvelous sideline reception, but that game is obviously better known for the Falcons’ 25-point collapse.

During Atlanta’s dominant 2016 offensive run, the 6-foot-3 dynamo delivered a 300-yard receiving game against the Panthers. This came two years after he scorched a playoff-bound Packers team for 259. He added a 253-yard outing against the Buccaneers in 2017.

Jones again led the NFL in receiving in 2018, with 1,677 yards, and reset the market at his position just before the ’19 season. Lengthy extension talks produced a three-year, $66MM deal (which came with $64MM guaranteed), making Jones the first $20MM-AAV receiver. He was unable to play out that contract — his second lucrative re-up — after suffering hamstring injuries in 2020 and ’21. The Falcons traded Jones to the Titans for a second-round pick in 2021, soon seeing Calvin Ridley leave the team due to mental health reasons, and dealt Ryan a year later. Jones contributed to Tennessee’s No. 1 seed that year but only totaled 434 yards in 10 games. The Titans designated him a post-June 1 cut in 2022.

Venturing to Tampa in 2022 and Philly in ’23, Jones was unable to show much of his pre-injuries form. He combined for just 373 yards over his final two seasons, and no team signed him last year. That said, Jones will earn Canton induction; by not playing in 2024, he will be eligible for the 2029 class.

Over the course of his career, the Alabama alum earned $147.3MM. Much of this came on his first extension, a five-year, $71.25MM deal agreed to just before the 2015 season. The Falcons employed a White-Jones-Tony Gonzalez aerial armada from 2011-13, but Jones was alone as the team’s receiving anchor by 2016. White’s 63 receiving TDs still rank first in franchise history, but Jones surpassed his former mentor in receptions and yardage with Atlanta.