The Atlanta Falcons desperately wanted a star receiver to pair with Roddy White and give quarterback Matt Ryan another target. So they traded their first, second and fourth-round picks this year and their first and fourth-round picks next year and to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the No. 6 overall pick. And with that pick, the Falcons selected former Alabama receiver Julio Jones.
Analysis: Cleveland could have taken Jones but decided they couldn’t pass up an offer of five draft picks for him. As for Atlanta, they’ll be able to spread the field with Jones on one side and White on the other. The biggest beneficiary could be White, who was a monster even when he was drawing double coverage and could really explode if Jones can draw attention away from him next year.
