What to do with Byron Jones

[Mr Cowboy]

How many of the best CB in the league will be playing this weekend? Heck one of the KC best CB is a FA college player that we traded to them in training camp last year. The teams still playing have good to great, consistent pass rush which makes a big difference. Our defense has been horrible at interceptions, and has been bad for many years, no matter the players. Even when our pass rush has been good, we don't get interceptions.

I would not pay Jones and let him walk, he is not a difference maker. He's out number one CB only because the guy on the other side is so bad. You don't pay for that kind of CB. I can't recall Jones make one play that made a difference this past year. I would rather get one in the draft and in FA than pay Jones. The new DC didn't have a high priced CB in NO.

 

[CB61]

Don't pay him that's for sure

 

[RS12]

What would Bill do? I am guessing a warm handshake on exit interview.

 

[Kingofholland]

Though I can't see how we can pay Byron top money, you don't let valuable assets just walk. Get deals done for the other guys, franchise Byron and then trade him.

 

[Javier]

Chido stinks

 

[mardwin]

I'd give Jones the franchise tag, let Amari walk, and extend Dak.

Going into the season with Awuzie as your #1 CB will be the most foolish thing this franchise has done in awhile.

They already invested a #1 in Amari and if they are going to extend Dak you know he's trash without all pro level talent around him.

 

[quickccc]

Byron is solid, he’s not elite , and most of all he is not a playmaker who will change the game for you.
Last 2 years and Zero INTs. The only other 2 career INTs he’s ever had was on a tipped pass by Irving and a hail mary.

He’ll never make the drive on the ball for momentum changer and also you have to make sure he’s always in a man press coverage as he struggles off line, in space and in zone.
If you employ a coverage scheme that invents a change up between man and zone, Jones will be lost and a fish out of water.

My thought is we have to change our defense and the way we play defense- that means chancing a much more versatile CB that will give us the much needed turnovers, then we need
to chance the changes.
I'm for chasing after two new CBs, because that is right. Regardless of whether Byron stays or goes, we still need to replace Chido Awuzie.

I think Cowboys (at best) might give him a B-tier contract offer and allow him to seek a bigger deal in the FA market.
Simply put, I think Byron will follow the past FA road of Demarco Murray, Anthony Hitchens, and Barry Church (who is not even in the NFL anymore)

 

[Runwildboys]

Anybody who is for paying Amari but letting Byron walk is INSANE


Especially witnessing how garbage Chido is

Byron isn't injury prone, for one thing. After seeing Amari this season, I have to wonder how many games he'll play next season. I like the guy when he's on, but he wasn't "on" much this year.

 

[Runwildboys]

Another great point. People place too much importance on takeaways.

Brandon Carr had six interceptions over his three seasons at the Ravens - he had one interception during his last three seasons for us.

Defensive scheme is a big factor.

I rate Byron Jones very highly and we haven't exactly had a formidable front seven over the course of his tenure with us.

If he moved to a team like the 49ers he could end up with like 6-7 interceptions over the course of a season because they have complete beasts on their D-Line.

Byron is one of my favorite players on the team, but catching isn't his strong suit, so I'm not sure it matters what the scheme is in that regard. That said, I'd rather have a guy who covers well than one who makes interceptions on occasion but sacrifices TDs when he goes for the ball and misses.

 

[CouchCoach]

I would lean heavily on my new DC and SC for input on the entire secondary and examine the need for a player like Jamal Adams or any DB's coming up in FA.

This is the time to tap into the coaching staff for input. They're going to be more honest about their assessment and not close to the excuse making part that comes once things aren't going well. They also didn't sign off on any of these players so they've got nothing to defend.

 

[CouchCoach]

As far as Jones and the lack of picks, most DB's lack ball skills and I'd bet SC's look at that as a benefit, not a requirement. Covering and tackling are required. He's been good at that and he doesn't play in a top 10 secondary. If you lose him, what do you have left?

 

[fivetwos]

How long do you think his contract is going to be? You do realize Dak is fighting for a shorter contract so he can cash in on the next market price change, such as when Watson or Mahomes gets paid...?

I don't think he is fighting over a shorter contract. The hangup is usually guaranteed money, but his will end up being in the 70 million range. Theres no way the team would sign him to only a fully guaranteed two year deal only.

In this case I think the team wants to pay him as he should be paid....a notch below the top guys, and he want top of the top money.

Either way, at his age, theres simply no way a two year deal makes sense for either side.

 

[fivetwos]

Signing Jones probably means losing a guy like Quinn.

Seems like Jones and his allergies to pigskin have attracted a lot of love on this thread.

Personally I'd rather pour that kind of money into a guy like Clowney and roll w someone like Brown at CB.

If the pass rush stinks, doesnt matter who your corners are.

And a good rush can disguise average corners WAY more than the opposite.

 

[fivetwos]

Jones reminds me of a guy like Bradie James....just good enough to lose with.

 

[JohnsKey19]

Assuming Dak gets signed as Stephen indicated, tag Jones and Cooper.

 

[Redball Express]

Much of their lesser performances were coaching and schemes, all fell apart even more. And the talking heads non pass rush on a consistent basis.

But what to do with Jones? Good question. Depends on his contract. Like Hitchens, good enough to want to keep, but do you pay his price of what another team wants to pay.
I will wait and see, if MM and staff want to keep him, I will back them. But what else can a fan do, you back them or whine.

Jones is run out of time with us.

His play under Richard was a nice improvement but he was a #1 pick.

He was a gypsy and disappeared all too often.

He was another Carr and Claiborne.

Over paid and over rated. And over hyped.

Our issues on defense have been lack of coaches and use of resources.

Rob Ryan, Marinelli, a parade of retread coaches.

Hmm..tired of old coaches and old schemes.

 

[BigTimeBlues]

This would be much "easier" if we had 12+ picks in the draft.

IF we nail some great DLine help in the draft, and that's a big if.. offer him a decent 10-12mil deal, and get a ballhawk to play opposite of him.. complimentary to his skill.

He's been a really good coverage corner. So, what better way to terrorize opposing QBs? make him pick his poison, Byron bating it down or his partner in crime picking it off.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

As far as Jones and the lack of picks, most DB's lack ball skills and I'd bet SC's look at that as a benefit, not a requirement. Covering and tackling are required. He's been good at that and he doesn't play in a top 10 secondary. If you lose him, what do you have left?

Exactly so many people want to get rid of what we have with little to no plan particularly to replace it adequately.

 

[conner01]

I’d love to keep him but I suspect some team will value a good cover corner who doesn’t get ints more than I would

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Jones is run out of time with us.

His play under Richard was a nice improvement but he was a #1 pick.

He was a gypsy and disappeared all too often.

He was another Carr and Claiborne.

Over paid and over rated. And over hyped.

Our issues on defense have been lack of coaches and use of resources.

Rob Ryan, Marinelli, a parade of retread coaches.

Hmm..tired of old coaches and old schemes.

He is one of the best coverage CBs in the game and was picked in the 20s not top 10.

He is on his rookie contract so no way on Earth was he overpaid. Given how there are a lot of people like you calling for his job there is no way on Earth he is overhyped.

The Carr and Claiborne comparison are just gratuitous appeals to emotion. Carr couldn't be counted on to cover the opponents WR1. Jones can as well as every other receiver including top TEs. Claiborne was hurt all the time and a headcase. Jones is literally the opposite.

Jones doesn't have the greatest ball skills but he was being asked to play man repeatedly in the robber scheme we played the past few years. Most turnovers for DBs are generated by driving from a drop and not turning at a certain depth or on a cue from the receiver while sprinting. The S and LB were all over the place leaving huge gaps in the middle of the field. They're not getting turnovers like that very often either.

Nolan likes to blitz and having shutddown coverage on one side of the field allows a DC to do that by rolling coverage that doesn't leave huge gaps if done properly. You aren't going to get one in UFA for less than Jones nor in the draft unless we are fortuitous with our first round pick.

The rub is that if we are using the top pick on a CB then we are still chasing our tail on needs like DT and S. WE may have no choice because of the cap but let's not pretend that losing Jones is an addition by subtraction situation.