The Julio Jones experience in Tennessee is over after just one season. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirms that the Titans have released the Pro Bowl receiver at the start of the 2022 league year on Wednesday. With a post-June 1 designation, this move, per La Canfora, will save the Titans roughly $12 million in salary-cap space this offseason. Despite the post-June 1 release, Jones is also free to sign with a new team immediately.
Jones was acquired by the Titans in a trade with the Falcons back in June. Tennessee shipped a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and their fourth-rounder in 2023 for Jones and a 2023 sixth-round pick.
While there was the initial optimism that Jones would be the ideal complement opposite of ascending superstar receiver A.J. Brown, it never materialized. The 33-year-old never played more than three games in a row for Tennessee as he played a scattered 10 games throughout the regular season due to injury.
That inability to stay on the field on a consistent basis limited Jones' ceiling within the Titans offense as he totaled just one game of over 100 yards receiving, which came in Week 2 against Settle. In Tennessee's playoff loss to the Bengals, Jones had one of his better games of the season as he caught six of his seven targets for 62 yards, but the top-seeded Titans were unable to advance.
Jones first entered the league as a first-round pick of the Falcons and spent the first decade of his career in Atlanta where he would develop into one of the better receivers of his generation. He's a member of the NFL 2010's All-Decade Team and is the Falcons all-time leading receiver.
While he may be past his prime, Jones will certainly have no shortage of suitors on the market as contenders look for a veteran pass-catching option to help boost their offense for the 2022 season.
