Report: Julio Jones' Titans Salary Converted to Bonus; Creates $11.2M in Cap Space

The Tennessee Titans and wide receiver Julio Jones agreed to a restructuring of his contract Tuesday that converts $14 million of his base salary into a signing bonus.

Field Yates of ESPN reported the move, which tacks on two void years for salary cap purposes and gives the Titans an additional $11.2 million in 2021 cap space. Jones was originally set to make $15.3 million in base salary.

While the move creates more flexibility for 2021, it also makes it more likely Jones will be on the roster for the remainder of his contract. Jones was already guaranteed $2 million of his $11.5 million base salary for next season, and adding bonus money to his contract adds even more potential dead salary if the team wanted to move on in 2022.

The Titans could have traded or cut Jones in 2022 with only $2 million in dead cap charges carrying over. Now they will have dead cap money running through the remainder of his deal, albeit not a significant amount.

The Titans traded a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round selection for Jones and a 2023 sixth-round pick. 

Jones is expected to take on a major role next to A.J. Brown in the wide receiver corps as the Titans look to make a Super Bowl run.