Patriots No. 1 Potential Suitor For Future Hall-of-Fame WR

The New England Patriots are planning their future, and they may be the best suitor for one particular WR.

Head coach Bill Belichick may use a decision-making wide receiver and we’d mention Julio Jones from the Atlanta Falcons. Michael Rothstein from ESPN reported that the player will be available, and New England may be the best suitor.

Rothstein has a list of three teams that may try to get Jones through a trade deal.

“With around $16.5 million in cap space, the Patriots would have the room to make a deal. Bill Belichick has shown no concerns going after top players this offseason in free agency, and he has made trades to acquire players – particularly wide receivers. Remember, this is a franchise that traded for Randy Moss and Wes Welker in 2007 and Brandin Cooks in 2017. Plus, Belichick made a move for Corey Dillon in 2004. So the Patriots have made moves for playmakers in the past. While New England did sign Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne in free agency, Jones is another class of receiver and would give veteran Cam Newton and rookie Mac Jones a high-level target every down.”

Patriots to fix their future with a WR

New England signed Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor in the offseason. Coach B may add another playmaker at the position.

Jones is 32 and he fits the Patriots’ roster. He will provide an excellent boost to the team’s passing game and overall offense.

Can Belichick afford Jones’ salary? Of course.

Patriots Salary Cap expert Miguel Bezan talked about the signing of the future Hall of Famer. According to him, it won’t be a problem. However, Belichick should a few more moves to get enough money for the deal.

Fitting Julio Jones' contract as it stands right now is not a problem.

Jones' salary = $15.3M minus the $850k salary of the player he displaces from the Top 51 list equals a $14.45M decrease in the Patriots salary cap space number.

Issue = cap space for rest of the season https://t.co/pougETPaV3

— Cap Space=$15,544,482 (@patscap) April 27, 2021

New England traded for Randy Moss, Mohamed Sanu, Brandin Cooks and other veteran receivers. These trades provided mixed results. Jones has a different story to tell. In nine games in 2020, he had 51 passes for 771 yards and three touchdowns.

Jakobi Meyers pulled out 59 catches in 14 games.

Jones missed seven games due to an injury. NFL experts are worried about his durability.