Under Mike Vrabel, the New England Patriots are using nickel personnel on defense at the third-highest rate in football.
The reason for that is clear as day: Marcus Jones has become too big a game-changer to be taken off the field.
The 27-year-old defensive back added yet another big play to his resume on Sunday. His walk-in interception for a touchdown off Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco helped flip an early 10-0 deficit into a game the Patriots never trailed from the 7:42 mark of the second quarter on.
Jones’ pick-six was the Patriots’ first since the 2023 season. The fourth-year pro has entered rarefied air among cornerbacks who double as their team’s top return man.
Jones now has two seasons with a pick-6 and a punt returned for a touchdown, tied for the second-most such seasons behind Hall of Fame CB Deion Sanders, who had three. https://t.co/R1w5xOgl64
— Patriots Communications (@PatriotsComms) November 23, 2025
Jones was a third-round draft pick by Bill Belichick back in 2022, but his value resonated with Vrabel almost immediately. Rather than let his expiring rookie contract play out, after an offseason that saw New England commit north of $360 million to future player salaries, the Patriots got to Jones early with an extension — and it might have been the best decision this new regime has made all year.
New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones might be the biggest bargain in the NFL
The Patriots gave Jones, who’s one of their team captains this year, a sizable pay raise back in October… but he might already be due for another one.
Jones’ three-year, $34.9 million contract with $17.5 million in guarantees, per Spotrac, already feels like a major bargain. The deal places him among the NFL’s highest-paid nickels, and as a top-30 cornerback overall, but you don’t have to squint to see how team-friendly his deal is; per Karen Guregian of MassLive.com, Jones even negotiated the extension without the services of an agent.
Jones has been a game-changer for Vrabel’s defense, which is why he ranks sixth on the team in total defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He enters Week 13 rated as PFF’s No. 19 overall cornerback in coverage (among 111 qualifying players), and has been an undeniable presence in run support; his 20 run stuffs rank second on the team to linebacker Robert Spillane.
Oh, and Jones owns the NFL’s sixth-highest punt return average at 14.8 yards per attempt.
New England is sitting pretty with Jones’ $11.6 million-per-year contract number. The nickel is one of the more underrated positions on any NFL roster, because there’s a sizable gap between players in the first and second tiers; Jones has blossomed into a first-tier player, and the Patriots are set to reap the benefits after keeping their ascending young player from testing free agency.