Julio Jones trade rumors leave KC Chiefs out of equation

Julio Jones rumors continued to persist in NFL circles throughout the weekend, the primary talking point for most football fans in a slower time of year, but at this stage, the K.C. Chiefs are being left out of the equation despite the hopes of some in Chiefs Kingdom.

The latest rumor over the weekend had the New England Patriots looking like a possible new home for Jones given that NFL Network’s Mike Giardi reported that the franchise had internal discussion about trading for Jones this offseason. The Atlanta Falcons are reportedly interested in trading away their star wide receiver given the state of the team’s finances. While a move would certainly decrease their chances to field a competitive team, very few expect much from the Falcons this year and a new regime apparently feel more open to trading fan favorites like Jones.

An NFL.com report from Adam Maya notes that trade talks could come into focus after the June 1 designation that allows NFL teams to spread dead salary cap charges across two consecutive seasons. This would give the Falcons a chance to not take such an immediate stomach punch to any dead space stemming from a Jones trade, especially in a year impacted financially by the global pandemic.

The KC Chiefs are likely out of the running for a Julio Jones trade.

There’s more than just a little smoke here in terms of connections given that Jones is also reportedly interested in playing for New England. Specifically, it’s believed he wants to play with Cam Newton as his quarterback.

What does this mean for the Chiefs? Well, they’ve been a bit of a long shot all along given the cost to grab Jones and the fact that the Chiefs already have a dynamic offense with targets that need to be saved for Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, not to mention a significant number of other competitors. Odds for the Chiefs remain serious underdogs to trade for Jones compared with other teams.

But let’s also know this: general manager Brett Veach isn’t afraid to charter a boat and chase the biggest fish in the sea. It’s also true that the Chiefs have already chased wideouts in free agency back in March and were spurned. Perhaps the need and/or desire is still there for Veach to improve the position.

As long as Jones is available and Veach hasn’t said “no” outright, then anything is possible for the Chiefs. At this point, however, it looks like the Chiefs are on the outside looking in with the Patriots as favorites to trade for him given the current rumor mill.