Ravens don’t need to play the Julio Jones sweepstakes
By Kristen Wong
A wild first official day of free agency saw the Baltimore Ravens fill three major needs for 2022. Could they also pick up Titans wide receiver Julio Jones by the end of this offseason?
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Titans announced they were planning to release Jones with a post-June 1 designation after he spent just one season with the organization.
Last offseason, Jones generated plenty of chatter about his future when he said some incendiary comments on-air with Shannon Sharpe, and Jones ultimately forced his way out of Atlanta to start anew with the Titans.
One year later, Jones is being released by Tennessee and free to test the wide receiver market before the start of the 2022 season.
On paper, Jones embodies the profile of the seasoned veteran receiver that the Ravens are looking for and could in theory serve as a viable and productive deep threat. But Jones’ inconsistent form this past season should spell out a message to Baltimore, loud and clear: Stay far away.
The Ravens have little to gain by bringing on Julio Jones in 2022
In 2021, Jones played in 10 regular-season games and recorded 31 catches for 434 yards, finding the end zone just once.
Injuries caused him to miss significant time, and even when Jones was healthy, he was a virtual non-factor in the Titans’ passing offense, which relied instead on the younger and more supple A.J. Brown.
Jones was one-and-done in Tennessee, and his career trajectory suggests his production will only continue to drop as Jones enters the backend of his NFL career.
Nearly three years removed from a 1,000-yard receiving season, the 33-year-old can’t be depended upon to stay productive, much less stay on the field.
Injury issues will likely follow him to whichever new team he lands on, and the Ravens — out of all teams — don’t need that kind of liability on their starting roster.
Even with Rashod Bateman and Marquise Brown, Baltimore may be in the market for one more WR2 or WR3-equivalent to fill out the receiver room, but Jones isn’t the answer.
The Ravens can get much better upside and value in the draft, or if they do go down the veteran route, they should at least choose someone with a cleaner bill of health than Jones.
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After a tremendous free-agent haul, we’d bet Eric DeCosta and the Ravens’ front office are about done spending money and will now focus their efforts on the upcoming draft.
Julio Jones could be an ideal fit for any number of receiver-needy teams in the league, but the Ravens just aren’t interested.