1. Julio Jones. He’s a Tennessee Titan now. I’m thrilled that I no longer have to endure the endless trade speculation.
2. Julio Jones. The Titans traded a 2022 second-round pick and 2023 fourth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Jones and a 2023 sixth-round pick. Jones has been one of my favorite non-Vikings players since he entered the league. I’d hoped that he and the Falcons would find a way to stay together simply because he’d been the Falcons to me for the past decade. The team had gone to such great lengths in that remarkable draft day trade to get him to Atlanta. He and Matt Ryan were a fun combo from the start. Jones isn’t the same explosive game-breaking receiver that he once was but he’s still a terrific football player when healthy. I was looking forward to an Atlanta offense built around Ryan throwing to Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Kyle Pitts.
3. More Julio Jones. So now it’s Jones joining a Titans offense built around the punishing running of Derrick Henry. The addition of Jones has to make the Titans less Henry-centric. Ryan Tannehill, Henry, A.J. Brown, and now Jones. Should be/could be fun.
4. Even more Julio Jones. This is the third significant trade this offseason that involved a team’s decision-maker trading a player to his previous employer. In March, the Philadelphia Eagles and new head coach Nick Sirianni traded quarterback Carson Wentz to Sirianni’s former team, the Indianapolis Colts. Also in March, Detroit Lions new general manager Brad Holmes traded quarterback Matthew Stafford to Holmes’ former team, the Los Angeles Rams. Now, the Falcons and new head coach Arthur Smith traded Jones to Smith’s former team, the Titans.
5. I guess that the league’s talking heads can now go back to the nauseating Aaron Rodgers-Green Bay Packers soap opera. He’s not getting traded.
6. Now for something truly important and serious. The “race-norming” that was being done as part of the NFL’s concussion settlement is/was appalling. The league didn’t invent this racist neuropsychological standard but it benefited from it. Basic health care, basic fairness shouldn’t be a money-making enterprise. Racism is embedded so thoroughly in this society that it’s hardly a surprise when something like this is revealed.
7. The Minnesota Vikings Cornerbacks:
Patrick Peterson
Cameron Dantzler
Mackensie Alexander
Jeff Gladney
Bashaud Breeland
Harrison Hand
Kris Boyd
Tye Smith
Parry Nickerson
Dylan Mabin
Amari Henderson
I’m not going to speculate here on the roster security of Jeff Gladney after his offseason stunt. With or without Gladney, this is a very deep and talented cornerback group. Training camp is going to be fun. The competition for playing time and roster spots is going to be intense.
8. Since the March start of free agency the Vikings signed eight free agents:
Dalvin Tomlinson, DT
Patrick Peterson, CB
Xavier Woods, S
Nick Vigil, LB
Mackensie Alexander, CB
Bashaud Breeland, CB
Tye Smith, CB
Parry Nickerson, CB
All eight play on defense. There was a decided focus this offseason.
9. There are a few intriguing defensive linemen still available. They are available for a variety of reasons: age, health, a reduced salary cap.
Defensive Tackles:
Geno Atkins
Kawann Short
Sheldon Richardson
Jurrell Casey
Edge:
Melvin Ingram III
Justin Houston
Olivier Vernon
Everson Griffen
10. I saw this from Jordan Reid of The Draft Network. He’d been to four college summer camps over the past week and discovered an incredible disparity between the number of receivers and cornerbacks.
306 WRs
43 CBs
11. RIP Jim Fassel.
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