Julio Jones will end up with the Titans and that's such a boring outcome

We’ve known, ever since Julio Jones said as much on a televised phone call with Shannon Sharpe, that the All-Pro wide receiver expected to be traded by the Atlanta Falcons.

Now we know where he’s likely to end up: The Tennessee Titans.

Huh. Well. Ok.

Titans receiver A.J. Brown is probably thrilled. He’s been lobbying for this move for a while.

As for what the rest of us should think …. well, it’s a rough day for Falcons fans. As Steven Ruiz wrote previously, it makes no sense for Atlanta to move Jones now after spending the offseason seemingly putting off a rebuild and configuring the team to make a run now.

It doesn’t appear that the Falcons will get all that much draft capital out of the deal, either:

Sources: The #Falcons are trading All-Pro WR Julio Jones to the #Titans in exchange for at least a 2nd round pick. A blockbuster for Tennessee, who now gets the coveted big-play threat. And Atlanta ends up with very nice value.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 6, 2021

traded the best player in franchise history for a second round pick. sickening

— charles (crying online) mcdonald (@FourVerts) June 6, 2021

As for Julio Jones’ fit in Tennessee, well, he’s Julio Jones. He’d fit anywhere. But of all the potential options, this is probably one of the least exciting. In fact, Charles Curtis ranked it sixth out of six teams last month.

Obviously pairing Jones with Brown on an offense powered by one of the leagues best running backs in Derrick Henry makes for an exciting core. But the Titans are in transition on offense — the Falcons hired their offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, as head coach — and so much depends upon quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Yes, he’s been an efficient passer for several years now, but that success was built off of Smith’s play-action scheme.

Maybe new play-caller Todd Downing can keep that up, but regardless this is not the dynamic situation we had hoped to see Jones join. Or what Jones himself wanted.

Julio Jones reportedly had all of these wants from his next quarterback. He will go from Matt Ryan to Ryan Tannehill.

— Seth Wickersham (@SethWickersham) June 6, 2021

Honestly, we here at FTW have mostly wanted to see Jones play in Smith’s offense in Atlanta, just to see how defenses might try to handle a team with Jones, Calvin Ridley and No. 4 overall pick TE Kyle Pitts.

If he had to go, though, we daydreamed about Jones ending up with a dynamic young QB — Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, Justin Herbert and the Chargers — or in a super-charged offense like the one Kyle Shanahan directs in San Francisco (where Trey Lance could take over under center.)

The Titans are in win-now mode, though, after finishing first in the AFC South last season and advancing to the conference final the year before. Henry has handled a heavy workload and Tannehill will be 33 by the time the season starts.

So, why not go for it?

I would not care if I was a titans fan tho. It will probably be fun and that offense was looking as boring as an offense featuring Henry and Brown could possibly look. Just not sure about the OC and the defense will probably be mediocre at best.

— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) June 6, 2021