Eagles sign veteran WR Julio Jones
The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Tuesday that they've signed veteran wide receiver Julio Jones.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Jones will initially sign with the practice squad and that the Eagles intend to promote him to the 53-man roster when he gets up to speed.
Jones, 34, last played in 2022 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He remained a free agent through the first six weeks of this season.
Jones joins an Eagles team featuring All-Pro A.J. Brown and emerging third-year receiver DeVonta Smith. There's little production on the depth chart outside those top two receivers.
Olamide Zaccheaus is the Eagles' third-leading producer at the position with four catches for 74 yards and a touchdown through six weeks. The hope, presumably, is that Jones can provide a reliable No. 3 wide receiver target for quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Can Jones produce for the Eagles?
In his prime, Jones was a game breaker, a five-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler. A 6-3 speedster with vice-grip hands, he fit the prototype of an ideal NFL wide receiver and is one of the best to ever play the position.
He is no longer that player. Jones last made a Pro Bowl with the Atlanta Falcons in 2019. The Falcons traded him in 2021 to the Tennessee Titans. In the two seasons since, Jones tallied 31 catches for 434 yards and a touchdown in Tennessee in 2021, then 24 catches for 299 yards and two scores with Tampa Bay last season.
There's little to suggest at this point in his career that Jones can be a difference-maker on the field. The Eagles aren't necessarily asking him to be one. With tight end Dallas Goedert and running back D'Andre Swift alongside Brown and Smith, Hurts has a strong stable of receiving weapons. Whether Jones can contribute as another option remains to be seen.
