Chandler Jones: Odd Man Out?
By Andre Menice
Over the years, as the rules are tailored to benefit the passing game, having the combination of a good pass rush and even better secondary is a must. Just take the last three Super Bowl champions: 2015, Denver had Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson, Derek Wolfe rushing the passer and Aqib Talib, Chris Harris, and TJ Ward on the back end; 2014, New England had Jamie Collins, Dont”a Hightower, and Chandler Jones rushing the passer along with Darrelle Revis, Devin McCourty, Brandon Browner and Patrick Chung on the back end; 2013, Seattle had the Legion of Boom with Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril coming off of the edges. As you can see there is a trend, and because of the importance placed on the defensive end position, young edge rushers with multiple double digit sack seasons usually come at a premium price, a price that is usually too high for the taste of the New England Patriots.
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In watching Jones, a good percentage of his sacks seem to be a result of the quarterback being indecisive and holding onto the ball. Now this might be as a result of Belichick’s “read-and-react” defense or questionable positioning at times of Jones on the line, namely playing the 3-tech, or a combination of both, but he has seemed to have hit a ceiling and what you see with him, is what you’re going to get. A pretty good, but not great defensive end.
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Because of this, I would not put Jones in the same skill category as the top tier 4-3 defensive ends like Robert Quinn, Michael Bennett, or Carlos Dunlap, but the tier below, and after looking at some of those salaries, I must say, I’m not that interested in giving Jones that kind of money.
“Because of Collins’ and Hightower’s versatility, I don’t even think it’s an argument who the odd man out is”
just
that will pay him 8.5 million annually with 18 million guaranteed and I believe it is safe to say that Jones is far and away the better player between the two. With that being said, he is probably going to get paid when he hits the market and with other priority contract extensions like Collins, Hightower, and
on the horizon, I believe Jones is the odd man out.
He is not a higher priority than either Collins or Hightower due to the position. Even though Jones plays the premium position, Collins’ and Hightower’s games are just so well rounded, they can do it all, rush the passer, play the run, drop back and do a serviceable job in coverage, not to mention
looked extremely dominant coming off of the edge this past season, his first in New England and to be honest, I’d rather extend Sheard, as he would probably come cheaper due to his misusage in Cleveland.
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Because of Collins’ and Hightower’s versatility, they just are more valuable to New England’s offense. I really don’t even think it’s an argument on who is the odd man out in this picture. I would love to live in Never Never Land with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, and see New England keep all of those guys, but I don’t think New England has the financial flexibility. With all this being said, one of the four are going to be on the chopping block and I would rather them trade Jones this offseason, maybe for a third rounder, and resign Akiem Hicks or sign a veteran like Charles Johnson or Robert Ayers, or maybe take a flier on players like Da’Quan Bowers or Adrian Claiborne and see if they can get those two players to unlock the potential that scouts seen when they were coming out of college.
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