Kansas City Chiefs: Six defensive trade targets, Part Two

Deion Jones, Inside Linebacker

For the Falcons, Deion Jones missed ten games in 2018 with a foot injury. In the prior two seasons, though, the former second-round pick out of LSU was a tackling machine, racking up 106 tackles his rookie season in 2016 and then 138 tackles in 2017, in which he was named to the Pro Bowl.

Now Jones is set for unrestricted free agency after this season, the last of his rookie contract in which he’s set to earn just under $1.5 million. Even in a limited amount of appearances last year, Jones ranked as PFF’s number 14 linebacker, grading out at 75.8. And while Atlanta doesn’t have the fifth-year option to fall back on to keep Jones in 2020 since he wasn’t a first-round pick, the team could always slap him with the franchise tag.

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Or trade him before it gets to that.

As a whole, the Falcons are in a tough spot after finishing 7-9 last season. Since blowing the Super Bowl in Jones’ rookie season, the Falcons have gone from one-and-done in the playoffs to outright missing them. In a competitive NFC South, the Falcons are closer to the Bucs at the bottom than they are the Saints at the top.

Armed with the 14th pick in this month’s draft, the Falcons have an incredible opportunity to recharge. But if the team can acquire another Day Two draft pick while parting ways with Jones, would they do it?

It would take more for the Chiefs to land Jones than McCoy or even Lee. A straight-up swap of Jones and the number 61 (or number 63) draft pick would be huge for both franchises. The Falcons would add another second-rounder while the Chiefs would add a dynamic inside linebacker who’s entering the last year of his deal.

While Jones would then join Chris Jones and Tyreek Hill, among other Chiefs, needing new deals after this season, it is, essentially, a win-now move.