Julio Jones Denies Wanting Trade from Falcons Amid Rumors of Possible Exit

The Atlanta Falcons are 1-6 following a stunning 23-22 loss to the Detroit Lions, and it would be fair to wonder at this point if veteran wide receiver Julio Jones wanted out prior to the Nov. 3 trade deadline.

He put that to rest Sunday.

"No," he said when asked if he wanted to be traded, per Falcons writer Kelsey Conway. "I play football. I know who I am, I know what I got going on. I know what I mean to this team."

Jones is a seven-time Pro Bowler who has been with the Falcons his entire career, but he has a potential out on his contract for 2023 and could net the team some valuable assets to facilitate a rebuild if he was traded to a contender in need of pass-catchers.

Conway explained there have been reports suggesting the Falcons could explore moving some of their veterans, but Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay did not seem eager to do that during an interview with the NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano.

"We have a good football team," McKay said. "We have a lot of good football players, some of which are very good football players. Don't look for us to be trading those football players, we won't be calling teams about that. Do we anticipate anything? We really don't. It's not our mindset, our mindset is to try win football games. To win them this year and next year." 

It would be understandable if Jones was frustrated with the situation since he has never won a ring despite coming so close when the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.

This year has been a clinic in blown leads for the Falcons, who lost a 15-point advantage to the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter and a 16-point advantage to the Chicago Bears earlier this season.

Sunday was another heartbreaking loss, as the Falcons were in position to run out the clock and kick a game-winning field goal when Todd Gurley scored a touchdown instead of going down. That gave the Lions one more chance, and Matthew Stafford took advantage by driving his team down the field and finding T.J. Hockenson for a touchdown as time expired.

The ensuing Matt Prater extra point gave the Lions the win.

Despite all of that, it doesn't sound like Jones wants to go anywhere.