In defense of Mayo, he played in 75 of a possible 80 games over his first 5 seasons, compiling 684 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 3 interceptions, 16 tackles for a loss, and 17 pass defenses during those games. He was reliable until these past 2 seasons.
I agree with you previous post and I am a big fan of Chandler Jones personally, but he does have some durability concerns, he has missed time in 2 of 3 years in the NFL and he was injured often in college as well. I think this is a pivotal season in Jones’s development, I do not believe we have seen the player Jones can truly be yet, and he was very raw entering the NFL and has an extremely high ceiling. The funny thing is I think the Patriots would gladly pay Jones the money Heyward received, I know I would, considering JPP had a 5 year $60M deal on the table prior to the 4th of July I think under $10M a season for Jones would be a steal.
I think the thing people do not realize is, this is why Revis, Browner, and Wilfork were allowed to walk this offseason, because the young homegrown core players such as McCourty, Jones, Hightower, Collins, etc. are going to need to be paid. When you look at the talent of Jones, Brown, Easley, Hightower, and Collins you have 5 players in your front 7 who are 25 years old or younger and have all pro level talent.