Julio Jones’ thank you letter to Falcons fans: ‘Forever I’ll love Atlanta’

ATLANTA — Julio Jones said goodbye to Atlanta after a 10-year career with the Falcons following his trade to the Tennessee Titans this week.

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According to the deal, the Falcons will receive the Titans’ second-round pick in 2022 and their fourth-round pick in 2023 with Atlanta sending Jones and a sixth-round pick in 2023. The trade saved the Falcons $15.3 million in cap space.

The wide receiver and 7-time Pro Bowler posted a letter to Falcons fans via his Instagram account Tuesday.

“Thank you ATL for all the love you’ve shown me over the years. It’s been an amazing 10 years playing for the city and all the fans. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me over the years and will never forget my time as an Atlanta Falcon,” Jones wrote. “Excited for the next part of my journey here in Nashville. To the fans, I want to thank you all for the warm welcome for me & my family. We are very excited to be part of the Titans family. Ready to get to work!”

Tuesday marked the opening day for the Falcons’ mandatory minicamp. During the media call, first-year head coach Arthur Smith delivered a frank answer about entering the season without Jones.

“I don’t worry about players I never coached,” Smith said. “A lot of respect and appreciation for what he did here. I wish him well at Tennessee. My main concern is our roster and getting us ready to go for this fall.”

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Jones’ former teammates also discussed his departure.

“I just have a ton of respect for Julio and all the amazing things he’s accomplished in his career and for the team,” right guard Chris Lindstrom said. “I’m just thankful for the interactions I had with Julio. He was a great teammate and a great role model in the locker room.”

Defensive end Steven Means said the trade wouldn’t be a distraction.

“We’ve got a great group of guys, so we all wish him the best,” Means said. “We know now we’ve got to ramp it up, but it’s not going to be a distraction. It’s not going to be nothing that is going to hold us back in the sense of us dwelling on it. We’re just going to push forward and wish him well and go out there and continue to play ball.”

Jones holds the franchise record with 848 catches for 12,896 yard and ranks second with his 60 touchdowns.

The wide receiver had a career-best 136 catches for 1,871 yards in 2015. Jones had more than 1,300 receiving yards in six straight seasons until he played only nine games in 2020 due to a hamstring injury.

He ranks first in NFL history in averaging 95.5 receiving yards per game through 135 games, ahead of former Georgia Tech legend Calvin Johnson’s mark of 86.1 receiving yards per game.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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