Seven-time Professional Bowl huge receiver Julio Jones signed a one-year contract with the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday.
After an extremely productive 10-year run with the Atlanta Falcons, Jones bounced between the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 and 2022 earlier than becoming a member of the Eagles follow squad Tuesday, based on NFL insider Ian Rapoport.
Whereas the 34-year-old receiver’s greatest days are definitely behind him, head coach Nick Sirianni will hope his expertise can assist bolster a passing recreation that has been largely depending on Professional Bowler A.J. Brown and simply positioned speedster Quez Watkins on injured reserve. Jones completely brings veteran management, however his manufacturing has considerably dropped off since his last Professional Bowl look in 2019.
A part of the issue has been the offenses he is performed with. One was a Ryan Tannehill-quarterbacked Titans squad that handed the ball to Derrick Henry 27.4 instances per recreation, the opposite Tom Brady in his last season.
The opposite concern is one that’s way more worrisome contemplating Jones’ age: an incapacity to remain on the sphere.
He hasn’t performed greater than 10 video games since 2019, with hamstring and knee issues retaining him off of the sphere in every of the next seasons.
He is additionally changing fewer of his targets to catches, catching a career-low 55.8 p.c of his seems with Brady in 2022 to pair with one other personal-worst 12.5 yards per reception.
The great factor for the Eagles is that they will not want Jones to supply on the similar stage that made him the active leader within the NFL in receiving yards. Brown ought to nonetheless dominate the goal share, but when Jones is any menace he ought to take some consideration away from big-play menace DeVonta Smith and standard red-zone goal Dallas Goedert.
Jones additionally regarded stable within the wild-card loss to the Cowboys final season, hauling in seven passes for 74 yards and a landing in his last recreation with Tampa Bay.
Even with out him, the Eagles sit at 5-1 with a top-10 passing offense within the NFL regardless of seeming to underperform based on preseason expectations. This signing doubtless will not change the course of Philadelphia’s season, however quarterback Jalen Hurts will definitely nonetheless take the veteran assist.
