NFC South

Michael Cunningham: Trading Julio Jones makes little sense for Falcons

ATLANTA — Is it better to have Julio Jones on the roster or gain a bit of salary-cap relief? That should be an easy answer for a team looking to win now. New Falcons coach Arthur Smith declared that’s what his outfit is aiming to do. There is no plausible argument to be made that the Falcons are a better team without Jones. The Falcons know this. They are motivated to trade Jones because they need to create space under the salary cap. But that rationale doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. The Falcons would net about $7.5 million in 2021 cap space — savings minus “dead” money — if they traded Jones af…