At 35-year-old, Julio Jones’ legacy is secure. He’s a seven-time Pro Bowler, was a perennial All-Pro, and is the NFL’s 17th all-time leader in receiving yards (13,330) despite just about a decade’s worth of time in the league.
But one crucial, lionizing aspect missing from the likely future Hall of Famer’s career is a Super Bowl win.
After a relative dud of a year with the Titans and Ryan Tannehill, Jones probably couldn’t have picked a better team in the Buccaneers to finally get over the hump. I mean, Tom Brady and all of his seven Super Bowl rings? Come on now. If anyone can finally get a great player like Jones to the summit, it’s Brady.
This brings up an interesting point about the one-year $8 million deal (with a $6 million base) that Jones signed with Tampa Bay: All of the incentives point to Brady’s Bucs aiming for a Super Bowl with their new 6-foot-3, 220-pound playmaker.
Details on Julio Jones' incentives in his Bucs contract: he has 10 $200,000 bonuses in play for up to $2 million in incentives. He gets them if he reaches 50/60/70/80 receptions, and 600/700/800/900 receiving yards, plus $200k if Bucs win NFC title and $200k with Super Bowl win.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) July 27, 2022
Huh. How about that? I can’t remember the last time a player could earn 25 percent of the total sum of their one-year contract if they not only performed well but helped take their new team to the promised football land. The Buccaneers must believe in Jones a lot if they’re willing to stipulate such conditions. (It’s also probably about Brady feeding the veteran the ball with regularity).
Of course, Jones hasn’t been himself lately due to poor injury luck. In the past two seasons between the Falcons and Titans — with just 19 total starts — Jones has caught a mere 82 combined passes for 1,105 yards and four touchdowns. He caught more across the board (99 catches, 1,394 yards, six touchdowns) in his last healthy year in Atlanta in 2019.
Depending on where his health stands now, it might be a tall order for Jones to notch some of his individual contract benchmarks. That said, if he produces well enough — it wouldn’t be a stretch to see Jones playing for and/or winning a Lombardi Trophy next February.
According to oddsmakers with Tipico Sportsbook, Tampa Bay is +700 to win Super Bowl 57 next winter. That is second only to the on-paper juggernaut Bills.
Regardless of the version of Jones heading to Florida, he seemed to pick the perfect spot to get the one championship missing from his already legendary career.
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