Chandler Jones acknowledged his offseason trade request while chatting with reporters on Wednesday (Twitter link via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic). However, the Cardinals defensive end says that he’s keeping his mind off of any contract issues and letting his agent handle matters.
Jones asked Arizona to deal him sometime in July. As it stands, the 31-year-old has one year and $15.5M to go on his contract. He wants a new deal now — not in the spring — to cover the remainder of his prime and perhaps some post-prime seasons.
A short-term deal in the $20M average annual value neighborhood could make sense for both sides. At the same time, he doesn’t have a ton of leverage after losing much of 2020 to a biceps injury. In his five games, he registered 11 tackles, one sack and seven QB hits. On the whole, he didn’t look like his usual self, even while healthy.
The Cardinals’ previous refusal to trade Jones signals a desire to stay the course with the three-time Pro Bowler. If talks do not progress in the coming weeks, he could be a potential trade candidate before the deadline, however.
Jones, winding down his five-year, $82.5M deal, averaged 15 sacks per season across his first four years (2016-2019) in Arizona.
More must-reads: