The Cardinals kicked off their mandatory three-day minicamp today, but one of their top players wasn’t in attendance. Darren Urban of the team’s website reports that Chandler Jones was a no-show at practice today. Coach Kliff Kingsbury said that Jones (along with linebacker Jordan Hicks) isn’t expected to be in attendance at all this week.
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“We’ve been in communication with both guys, we know the situations and I’ll leave that dialogue between us,” Kingsbury said. “Nothing else to report on that.”
It’s not too difficult to connect the dots here. Jones is entering the final year of his contract, and the 31-year-old is likely putting some pressure on the front office as he pursues a new pact. As Urban notes, the veteran’s absence is especially notable since Jones had earned a reputation of “a player who showed up to everything in the offseason, including all voluntary work.”
Fortunately, Jones was in attendance during Monday’s media day, so the three-time Pro Bowler clearly doesn’t expect his pseudo-holdout to get out of hand.
Jones was traded to Arizona from the Patriots in 2016, and the Cardinals gave him a five-year, $82.5MM deal a year later. During his first four seasons in Arizona, Jones didn’t miss a game while averaging 15 sacks per season. He appeared in the first five games of 2020, collecting 11 tackles, one sack, and seven QB hits. However, a torn bicep forced him to miss the rest of the season.
Steve “ no way I should be a GM “ Keim will screw this one up. How the man keeps his job is mind boggling. Can’t draft player to play his normal position and then signs has beens for too much $$$
Agreed, but to be fair, that approach worked for Licht this year. Licht was Keim until the Bucs signed enough All-Pros to win a Super Bowl. Les Snead tried it, and managed to get to a Super Bowl. If you mostly have nothing to show for your GM resume, you might as well try and sign every name player you can until you out-talent, since you won’t be out-building anyone.
Jags should trade for him. They need veteran leadership & solid D players that can generate pass rush. But they’ll sit on their cap space and be comfortable w yet another losing season.