I know this will get tons of disagrees, but I don't see a scenario where any of them take "below market deals." So as many have suggested, I'd rather have Collins and Hightower, who have been far more consistent and just better, than Jones. He's playing extremely well right now, since the second half of the Colts especially. The very remarkable thing about the Colts is that he got better as the game went on, which has not historically been the case with him in the past. And as some have alluded, he had the best game of his career against the Dolphins the other night. But there is a reason why there has been much debate over him by us and even the local and national media (to a lesser degree). He has been inconsistent. He has disappeared in games late. He has missed many games. Let's let the season play out. Let's see what he does in the playoffs. This, to me, will go a long way for him in terms of leverage with the organization. Vereen was probably always going to make good money on the market, but that SB performance did not hurt his case.
I have always felt that, like Ninko replaced Vrabel and High is the new age Tedy Bruschi (just as smart and more physically gifted), Jones is supposed to be the new Willie Mac. And if you all remember halftime, one of the main things talked about is how he brought it to an even higher level in the playoffs. Jones really didn't do that in the playoffs. He had a sack in the SB, but that was more-or-less a blown assignment by the Seahawks. But that's not to say he won't do that this season. Let's see how things play out. I would love to keep all three of Jones, High and Collins (the new Phifer), but I just have a hard time seeing it play out this way.