Breaking News: Jets Trade for Thomas Jones
Posted on March 5th, 2007 by Bent
ESPN reports the deal: LINK
According to ESPN & AP reports, the Jets will give the earlier of the Jets’ two second rounders (#37, from WAS) for Chicago’s second rounder (#63) and Jones, who at 5′10″ and 220lbs would seem like a decent compliment to Leon Washington.
Beatwriter Andrew Gross has reported that there might not be a swapping of picks in the second according to a league source who says the Bears are giving “too much.” (–Bassett)
More on this later…
Like it. One problem solved.
As usual, Jets leaks are all smokescreen, we better get used to that quick.
FWIW, the drop from 37 to 63 is equivalent to a third round pick in value terms (before we go down that “Jolley for a first rounder” route again).
I don’t think there’s a huge dropoff from early 2nd to late 2nd this year.
Hold the presses!! Deal is real, but may be Jones straight up for the 37th pick, according to Gross.
I like the deal. We don’t lose a whole lot in terms of moving down 20 or so spots in the second, and Jones is a nice fit for us. He’s not huge, but is surprisingly powerful and doesn’t necessarily need to be replaced in short-yardage or goal line situations. He’s a solid hybrid power/speed back, and splitting time with Leon ought to work well.
Let’s make a move on someone for our O-line, and then shift focus to the draft.
As far as the picks it\’s fine, but I am not sure how much of a complement Jones is for Washington…
I’m telling you guys, the perception that Jones is just a speed back is wrong. The guy has power, too. He’s not a perfect complement to Leon, but with the two of them we have a strong, speedy backfield.
Like the move.. Jets needed a back and only sacrificed 20 or so spots in the draft for it. In the options at RB that were available out there, Thomas Jones was one of the better ones.
If we can sure up the O-Line Thomas Jones should be the go-to back that we lacked last year.
assuming the 2d round pick swap is correct, great trade for Jets. If not, depends on what, if any, pick we are getting from Bears
Also depends on how much they are paying him to extend his deal. He has been trying to renegotiate for a couple of years, which may be why the price to the Jets is not as high as one might expect.
Gross does a great job, stays more on top of these things than most of the beat writers, kudos to him for trying to verify and not just echoing a “published report”.
Not too sure how different Leon and Jones are. I wish they would have made more of an effort to get McGahee. I know it would be hard to get him since its withing the division, but its not impossible. I hope we can get Porter now.
too good to be true? other sites are reporting jones for 2nd rounder only. bears 2nd rounder not included. can anyone confirm?
If Jones is such a good back, why did the Bears draft Benson?
Does anyone know his cap number? He’s at the end of this deal, correct, with most of the bonus money paid?
I guess these are moves you can make when you’re $20+ million under the cap. Unless Jones’ contract was so cap friendly that the deal made sense. Willing to give Tanny the benefit of the doubt until someone shows me the numbers.
I’m being lazy…we still have our own second rounder, don’t we?
I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something I don’t like about this deal. Maybe it’s a Fantasy Football hangover. Jones was on my team and didn’t perform!
NFL.com also reports that there is a swap of 2nds.
http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/NYJ/10040951
This is a great move. McGahee would be redundant. Only worry is that maybe Chicago knows something about Jones that nobody else knows. Jones is tough too; more so than his bro although they both play when able. If you could draft a player at the spot you gave away for him it would be a great pick.
As a brother and son of Bears fans, I’m happy to say my family is in turmoil as many Bears fans are hesitant to place any sort of faith in Benson while Jones has been reliable, the epitomy of what we lost with Curtis Martin retiring. I’m not saying he’s as good as Curtis, but reliabiity is HUGE and if the swap is true, we are stealing him unless we get ravaged in the contract. I’m optomistic enough to assume we are not. So Rockadoodle Doo!
there are no concerns that jones is 29? i mean he hasn’t gotten a ton of carries, so theres definitely some tread left on the tires. but he is at the age where backs typically lose some effectiveness. so i think we’re looking at an above average back back (in relation to other starters) for about 2 years in exchange for the equivalent of a #3 pick.
chicago drafted benson becasue he was a stud back and they had a top 5 pick. at the time jones was no more than a 700 yd per season back. he must have split time with adrein peterson in 2004, and they drafted benson with the intention of handing him the job as a rookie. the only thing is the rookie held out, and jones never gave up the job.
great signing if in fact we only drop the equivalent of 1 round.
could this backfeild now be very similar to what jacksonville had with taylor and jones drew? only healthier(knock on wood)
Considering their third round picks from 2006 he is a bargain.
He is actually younger than most of the rumored targets and has no injury history. When you sign a back in free agency there is always a concern with the latter years, but in the NFL you can always cut him.
Bottom line, they are a better team today than they were this morning.
I think this says it all..from dabearsblog.com:
“The Bears have reportedly traded Thomas Jones to the Jets. They’ll be swapping 2nd round picks.
I am literally sick to my stomach. They move up in a round in exchange for the leader of an already shaky offense. The 2007 Chicago Bears will now enter the season without their most productive offensive weapon and most likely without their most productive defensive weapon – Lance Briggs.
And I’m supposed to continue to cheer this team with a smile? Bitter Jeff is back. And the Jets should be roundly applauded for stealing a brilliant player.”
Tangenious!!
and the comments on that site are even better:
“I think someone just kicked me in the balls, told me Santa is dead, and dismembered my wife in one cruel punch. The taste in my mouth is vomit.”
wow bears fans were nuts about this guy..he looked nice in the playoffs and I was anticipating him being released, didn’t have to give up anything big and we get another 2nd rounder..nice deal
What? Did I wake up to the twilight zone here?
We move back only 25 picks in the second round (Didn’t we start with two and still have two 2nd rounders?).
We pick up a 28 year old RB that is Avg. about 1100 yds a year. That is no more injured than any other RB in the league. And some of you have doubts?
I’m not a Thomas Jones fan. But he’s a solid back. Pushing it, he’s borderline 2rd pick worthy without the swap.
On paper this is probably the best trade this off season. If your a Jet that is. We can play the what if game till the playoffs next year. The fact is its a solid move for the Jets.
Oh yeah, we’re 28 mil under the cap. If we sign him gauranteed money front loaded. We won’t even notice the cap hit.
Whats next…DE, NT, LB, CB, RT, OG…ah crap its a long road ahead. Whose blocking for Jones? Ah crap. add that to the list too. now that I think about it, what about depth at the other positions? Ah crap. Willey E. Coyote better get to work some more!!!