The Eagles are adding a future Hall of Famer to their receiving corps on Tuesday, signing seven-time Pro Bowler Julio Jones.
Jones is 34 now and isn’t the great receiver he once was but he should bolster the Eagles’ receiver depth for the rest of the 2023 season. But Jones will likely need a ramp-up period, which is why he's being signed to the Eagles' practice squad at first, a league source said. The Eagles also did this with veteran CB Bradley Roby earlier this season.
Jones will join a receiver room that already includes A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Olamide Zaccheaus. The Eagles’ third wideout, Quez Watkins, is on Injured Reserve with a lingering hamstring injury.
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While Jones hasn’t been with a team in the 2023 season, he played in 10 games with five starts with the Buccaneers in 2022. In those 10 games, he had 24 catches on 43 targets for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Jones’ last big season came in 2019 with the Falcons, when he caught 99 passes for nearly 1,400 yards. In his career, Jones has 903 catches for 13,629 yards and 63 touchdowns. Now that he’s back in the league, Jones will again become the NFL’s active leader in receptions and receiving yards.
He ranks 16th in NFL history in receiving yards and is tied for 23rd all-time in receptions. This will be Jones’ 13th NFL season.The Falcons drafted Jones 6th overall back in the 2011 draft.
Jones was teammates with Brown in Tennessee and with Zaccheaus in Atlanta.
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Last season in Tampa, Jones played 108 of his 392 offensive snaps (27.6%) in the slot. The Eagles are without Watkins but can mix and match their receivers in the slot. This season, Smith has played 97 snaps (22 percent) in the slot and Brown has played 86 snaps (20.8%) in the slot. At times this season, the Eagles have had trouble getting some of their top targets involved but Jones should help.
The Eagles’ passing offense will still run through Brown, Smith and Dallas Goedert but adding a player of Jones’ caliber — even at 34 — should add another dimension to the NFL’s No. 2-ranked offense.
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