How the Cardinals can make a Julio Jones trade work

Speculation ran its course through the Arizona Cardinals’ social media world Friday afternoon with another recruitment tweet from star wideout DeAndre Hopkins.

Falcons All-Pro receiver and franchise icon Julio Jones has been rumored to be traded before the start of the 2021 season. More specifically, Jones would be dealt as a post June 1 designation to create more cap space for the club. As of right now, Atlanta doesn’t even have the cash to sign their rookie class.

Multiple outlets have reported the Falcons’ intentions to move Jones. The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz reported Atlanta would like to move their star wideout at this time.

While teams like the Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers have come up as possible landing spots for Jones, the Cardinals have been brought up as a dark horse. That is, of course, before DeAndre Hopkins took to Twitter on the matter.

This alone shouldn’t be dismissed, given Hopkins’ involvement in the recruitment of J.J. Watt back in March. Julio Jones is very close with Hopkins, so there is a similar sort of connection there.

So, how could the Cardinals even make this work? For one, Jones would likely require a new/restructured contract. Second, the Cards aren’t exactly in dire need of another wideout. The starting lineup currently consists of DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Christian Kirk and Rondale Moore. Larry Fitzgerald, at this point, is still a possibility.

It goes without saying — the Cardinals would quite possibly be elevated to Super Bowl contender with the likes of Julio Jones to pair with their already explosive offense.

Here’s how a trade could work between Atlanta and Arizona:

At this point in time, the rumored asking price for Jones would be a second-round pick and change. He is 32 years old and coming off an injury-plagued season, therefore unlikely to fetch a first-rounder. Here are two projected trades between the two clubs:

ATL receives: 2022 second-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick

ARI receives: WR Julio Jones, 2022 sixth-round pick

Or, in the case of Atlanta hoping for young talent in return, there is this possibility:

ATL receives: 2022 second-round pick, WR Christian Kirk

ARI receives: WR Julio Jones

This idea has been floated around given the Cardinals’ selection of slot wideout Rondale Moore in the second round of the draft. With Kirk set to be a free agent next year, they could ship the talented receiver to Atlanta, giving Matt Ryan another weapon in the absence of Jones. Moore would likely take a full-time slot role, with the small possibility of a Fitzgerald return to the slot in Kirk’s departure.

Financially, it gets a bit more complex. Jones has a base salary of $15.3 million.

As for Hopkins’ contract, his cap number is already relatively low this year at $12.5 million, meaning there isn’t a ton of room to lower this year’s overall cap situation. Because his salary is only $4.75 million this year, any restructure would not even save $1 million against the cap this year.

However, there are others who can make a difference for the acquisition of Jones. Star edge rusher Chandler Jones currently has the team’s largest cap hit at more than $20 million. It would take a contract extension to lower that number or by adding voiding years at the end of the deal, which expires after this season. It would effectively be similar to what the front office did with J.J. Watt’s deal, adding an extra year to the contract to spread out the cap hit.

Other potential contract re-structures include LT D.J. Humphries($19.3 million) and DT Jordan Phillips($12 million). The Cardinals could also see cap relief by way of releasing linebacker Devon Kennard as a post-June 1 cut, saving $6.75 million, or by trading linebacker Jordan Hicks after June 1 to save $3 million.

With the Cardinals currently sitting at around $13.5 million in available cap space, they likely wouldn’t have enough to bring in Jones as it is. Still, it’s the 13th-highest remaining cap number in the league, with plenty of ways to increase it.

To answer the question bluntly — could the Cardinals find a way financially to bring in Julio Jones?

Yes, yes they could.

Will they give up a large amount of capital to add another wideout to a crowded receiver room with holes at tight end and cornerback? That is the larger obstacle here.

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