The Cleveland Browns have acquired linebacker Deion Jones in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons, a source told ESPN on Sunday night.
Deion Jones : Trade news | Browns | Interceptions
Jones attended Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was a three-year starter at middle linebacker.
As a senior, he had 179 tackles, eight sacks, and three interceptions, helping Jesuit to the LHSAA Class 5A quarterfinals, where the Blue Jays lost to Carencro.
Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Jones was ranked as the No. 31 outside linebacker prospect in the class of 2012.
Recruited by Corey Raymond, Jones originally committed to Nebraska in August 2011, but changed his commitment to Louisiana State after receiving a late offer in December 2011.
Trade news
The Atlanta Falcons agreed to trade linebacker Deion Jones and a draft pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for another draft pick.
Sources told NFL Network, The Athletic and Cleveland.com about the deal Sunday night. They also said the Browns will send a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Falcons in exchange for the linebacker and a seventh-round pick.
The deal wouldn’t become official until Jones passes a physical.
Jones, 27, was placed on injured reserve before the season so he could recover from off-season shoulder surgery.
The 2017 Pro Bowl selection logged 137 combined tackles, six passes defensed, a forced fumble and two sacks in 16 starts in 2021. He also started 16 games in 2020 and 2019 for the Falcons.
Jones entered the league as a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He totaled a career-high 138 combined tackles, 10 passes defensed, three interceptions and a sack in 2017 en route to his lone Pro Bowl appearance.
Deion jones browns
The Browns are acquiring former Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. Cleveland is sending a 2024 NFL Draft sixth-round selection to Atlanta for Jones and a 2024 seventh-round pick, Rapoport added.
Jones, a 2017 Pro Bowler for the Falcons, has yet to play this year as he was placed on injured reserve prior to the season’s kickoff after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.
A 2016 second-round pick, Jones’ quick rise helped the Falcons’ run to the Super Bowl in his rookie year. But Jones’ play waned in recent years, as evidenced by his 34.6 overall Pro Football Focus grade in 2021.
Thus, the Falcons move on and the Browns get a tackling machine in the middle, who’s had north of 100 tackles in five of his six previous seasons.
Atlanta will carry a $12.14 million dead cap hit in 2023 from Jones, who has no contract guarantees beyond 2022, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported. The Browns, in turn, owe Jones $1.39 million over the rest of the season, plus $31,250 for each game he’s active, Pelissero added.
Jones restructured his contract before this season, and his base salary of just more than $1 million for 2022 is what Cleveland will inherit as it tries to spark its defense.
Interceptions
There is no getting around the fact that Deion Jones was simply terrible for the Falcons last year.
He routinely looked lost and uninterested in the game, and after watching him last season it is hard to believe that not too long ago he was one of the best at his position.
Deion Jones’ future with the Atlanta Falcons has been in danger after a very poor year. The team is looking to do away with big contracts so Jones has been a candidate to be traded, but due to an injury, it seems unlikely that Atlanta will find a trade partner.
The former Pro Bowl linebacker is one pick-six away from being tied atop the record books for most pick-sixes in NFL history for a linebacker.
A year ago, it seemed like only a matter of time before he would get that big play, but now it is in serious jeopardy.
Jones has been in the league for six years now, and he has only had two seasons where he has not been able to record an interception for a touchdown, those years being 2017 and 2021.
He had a streak of three consecutive seasons with a pick-six until last year. In fact, it was his first season as a pro without an interception.
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