Julio Jones says he wants out of Atlanta on live, televised phone call with Shannon Sharpe

The whirlwind of rumors over Julio Jones’ future came to a head on Undisputed Monday morning when Shannon Sharpe gave Jones a quick phone call.

Instead of dancing around with “sources familiar to the situation,” Shannon went straight to Julio like it was no big deal, and straight up asked him if he wants to play for the Cowboys, or stay it Atlanta. The answer will not make Falcons fans happy.

“I’m out (of Atlanta). I want to win.”

I don’t even know if Julio knew he was on live TV, making this whole situation even more intriguing. Of course, Sharpe had to rib him a bit over Dallas being that possible landing spot, saying he wouldn’t win anything with the Cowboys. Not sure that’s really fair, but I mean ... it’s kinda on Dallas to prove they can return to the Super Bowl at this point.

The Falcons are just too inconsistent, and while they got an amazing player in the draft in Kyle Pitts, it’s difficult to see Atlanta topping the Buccaneers in the NFC South, or doing enough this offseason to make a deep playoff push. Jones is 32, and probably has a good 3-4 years left before his body wears down. Dude wants to make the most of it and get a ring, and feels that’s not possible where he’s at. There will be a long, long line for his services if the Falcons put him on the block, even following a receiver-heavy draft like we just had.

In talking about this moment David Fucillo of Draft Kings Nation came up with an amazing idea: Let’s just have Shannon cold call athletes in his contacts every day. Look, all offense intended to Skip Bayless, but I think Sharpe sitting alone, in a studio, with a glass of Henny calling up people he knows and getting to the heart of these rumors is so much better than spending six hours a day prognosticating on what a player MIGHT want to do.

Get sponsorship from a major cell phone carrier, call it “Sharpe Calls.” This idea really writes itself.