The crew at “Undisputed” gives reactions to sports news, but it’s not often they create news live on their show.
The FS1 competitor to ESPN’s “First Take” made waves on Monday when co-hosts Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless debated potential trade candidates for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones. Sharpe has a relationship with Jones and decided to go right to the source and see if he wanted to play in Dallas.
“Man, Look, you wanna go to the Cowboys Julio, or you wanna stay in Atlanta?” Sharpe asked Jones over speakerphone on the show.
“Oh man, Nah, I’m outta there man,” Jones answered candidly.
Sharpe asked him where he’d like to play if not in Atlanta, and Jones responded, “I want to win.” The former NFL player turned commentator joked with Jones that he won’t win in Dallas, a barb towards Bayless’s favorite NFL team.
“You already know I know,” Jones said in response to being wary about Dallas. Jones was tied to Dallas over the weekend after a fan spotted him in Dallas wearing a Cowboys sweatshirt.
There has already been some blowback to the segment. Many have questioned whether or not Jones even knew he was on TV or that his responses were being made public. Laurence Holmes of 670 the Score in Chicago even suggested that Julio Jones may have grounds to file a lawsuit against FS1 and Sharpe.
It’s a new era for the Falcons, who fired Dan Quinn this past season after failing to reach the successes of their 2016 Super Bowl berth. The team hired Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to inject new life into the franchise and light a fire under Matt Ryan’s final years in the league.
Unfortunately for Falcons faithful, Jones might have been living out his final few years in an “ATL” uniform unbeknownst to them. The pandemic financial hit has come for the franchise. Years of kicking the can down the road have left them at the bottom of the league in cap space. According to Over The Cap, Atlanta has just $410,351 in cap space to use this season, 30th in the league ahead of Chicago and New Orleans.
A player of Julio Jones’s caliber rarely pops up in trade rumors, but financial constraints are why the Undisputed crew gave him a ring on Monday morning.