Matt Ryan and Julio Jones were among the best QB-WR duos for the better part of the last decade. But with recent trade rumours surrounding Jones, we could see the duo be split after 10 glorious years. And Matt Ryan opened up on his teammate.
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The Atlanta Falcons made a number of major changes this offseason. The team moved on from HC Dan Quinn and hired Arthur Smith to replace him, as well as firing GM Thomas Dimitroff and replacing him with Terry Fontenot.
Falcons hire Arthur Smith as new head coach. pic.twitter.com/bnI5xLwEZD
— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2021
Julio Jones is among the greatest to ever play the position. He is the fastest player to reach 12,000 career yards and is one of only 6 players to have caught for 300 yards in a game. And even though he is past his prime, every team in the league will still jump at the opportunity of having him on the roster.
JULIO. JONES.
The fastest WR to hit 12,000 career yards.
📝 – https://t.co/8YtBlWE09c pic.twitter.com/58GRKBLQOS
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 22, 2019
Matt Ryan talks about the possibility of losing Julio Jones
With rumours of the Falcons looking at the possibility of trading Jones this offseason, which Ryan clearly has already heard of, it appears that the quarterback would rather just observe the development from a distance
“I hope he’s here. He’s been such an awesome teammate. Really, and I’ve said this before, I don’t think anybody has impacted my career as significantly as him. I’ve been very fortunate to ride along with him for 10 years. So we’ll see what happens. But I also don’t want to get involved in anybody else’s business. That’s for him to handle.”
Jones, 32, is still on contract through the 2023 NFL season. The 7 time Pro Bowler had a below-par season in 2020. The Alabama alum appeared in only 9 games because of injuries and caught for 771 yards. But we could see him return to his elite-level wherever he ends up in 2021.
Matt Ryan says he doesn’t know what the Falcons would look like without Julio Jones.
Don’t take one of the greats for granted. pic.twitter.com/TMNrRXSX2x
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) May 18, 2021
If Julio Jones stays in Atlanta, he will have a ton of weapons surrounding him, with Calvin Ridley and 4th overall pick Kyle Pitts at TE. If he moves on to a team like New England, we could see him be WR on a team with TE’s Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry. It should be very interesting to see where Julio Jones ends up before the start of the 2021 season.
