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Julio Jones Agrees to Restructured Contract

The Tennessee Titans freed up more than $11 million by turning most of the wide receiver's 2021 NFL salary into a bonus.

David Boclair

The Tennessee Titans freed up more than $11 million in salary cap space Tuesday when they restructured wide receiver Julio Jones’ contract.

ESPN’s Field Yates reported the move, which changed most of Jones’ 2021 salary into a signing bonus and added two voidable years (2024-25) to the end of the deal.

Jones’ salary cap number is now $4.1 million, down from the $15.3 million it was when the Titans acquired him in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons. At the time of the deal, the Titans reworked quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s contract in order to fit the seven-time Pro Bowler on to the roster.

Jones gets $14 million this year as a signing bonus, and – for salary cap purposes – that bonus is prorated over the remainder of the deal, including the voidable years, at $2.8 million per season. Tennessee gets $11.2 million of cap space.

Jones’ cap numbers in 2022 and 2023 are now $14.313 million, which is the sum of the prorated bonus plus his scheduled salary of $11.513 million.

According to OverTheCap.com, Tennessee now has $5,612,039 of salary-cap space, which is more than half of the teams in the NFL.

Jones missed significant time during training camp with an injury and did not play in any of the preseason games. He has taken part in workouts in recent days and is expected to play Sunday when Tennessee hosts the Arizona Cardinals in the season opener.

“It is important that we spend time together talking about the details of concepts,” offensive coordinator Todd Downing said recently. “I think that he has been working really hard in meetings, working with [wide receivers coach] Rob [Moore] and doing everything that he is able to do.”

That includes reworking his contract.

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David Boclair
DAVID BOCLAIR

David Boclair has covered the Tennessee Titans for multiple news outlets since 1998. He is award-winning journalist who has covered a wide range of topics in Middle Tennessee as well as Dallas-Fort Worth, where he worked for three different newspapers from 1987-96. As a student journalist at Southern Methodist University he covered the NCAA's decision to impose the so-called death penalty on the school's football program.

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