Anyone still want to trade Chandler Jones?

[Froob]

Leads the league in sacks with 8.5. Hopefully can extend him, would have been soooo dumb to trade him on his rookie contract with fifth year still available.

 

[aluminum seats]

Did anyone want to trade him? Don't recall seeing that.

 

[PP2]

As I mentioned in the game thread, nobody wants to lose Jones, but we definitely don't want to lose Hightower or Collins either.

The hard truth is that it's a lot harder to develop interior linebackers than it is to develop outside rushers, so Hightower and Collins are our priority to resign. We probably won't have enough left over to sign Jones to an extension.

 

[tombonneau]

Yeah, I don't think that's the case. More like you have three guys - Collins, Hightower, Jones - and you can likely only keep two. Whereas Jones would be #3 priority on Pats, he'll be several teams #1 priority in FA. So really no brainer for him.

 

[hovis]

Lets form a booster organization to give this guy some off the books cash.

Everyone thinks we cheat regardless, so why not?

 

[Nunchucks]

I don't see why the Patriots cannot sign all three. Remember, the cap can be manipulated...Brady is signed for cheap..The Patriots aren't spending a lot on their offense.

 

[Love The Drake]

Honestly you might be able to afford all three with careful budgeting and them taking below market deals.
If our secondary can play well and we dont need to pay top 5 defensive back money we should be able to lock up 2 of 3 or 3 of 3.

 

[manxman2601]

The good news is that it's not a problem until after next season. Let's roll with the NFL sack leader. Seems prudent.

 

[BelichickFan]

The good news is that it's not a problem until after next season. Let's role with the NFL sack leader. Seems prudent.

Damn right, every important player is signed through next year. Two Super Bowls will be played before this matters.

Also Miguel constantly says all three can be signed assuming they agree on value, that the cap space is there.

 

[tombonneau]

I don't see why the Patriots cannot sign all three. Remember, the cap can be manipulated...Brady is signed for cheap..The Patriots aren't spending a lot on their offense.

Edelman will be up soon, won't he? He'll command some coin and needs to be re-signed. And when was Gronk extension to? 2017? Another must re-sign (or more likely extend) which will cost a ton.

But yeah other than that on O I don't see any guys breaking the bank. They proved they can plug anyone in on OL and even pick up street WRs like Keshawn Martin and be productive.

 

[BelichickFan]

Edelman will be up soon, won't he? He'll command some coin and needs to be re-signed. And when was Gronk extension to? 2017? Another must re-sign (or more likely extend) which will cost a ton.

Edelman through 2017, Gronk through 2019.

 

[PP2]

The good news is that it's not a problem until after next season. Let's role with the NFL sack leader. Seems prudent.

We're not going to wait until the last minute to lock them up. I'll bet you contract talks are going on right now.

 

[manxman2601]

We're not going to wait until the last minute to lock them up. I'll bet you contract talks are going on right now.

I didn't say we would wait until the last minute, just that we have him for at least another year, something that passes some people by. In fact, it's prudent to lock Jones and Hightower up early because doing so probably saves against the cap next year.

 

[Angelpats]

As stated above, between Collins, Ht, and jones people picked jones as the one to trade. I like how we have homegrown talent and its less risky to resign these guys and it builds loyalty for all around if we do. If they do something with mayo we should be able to afford them all.

 

[Oswlek]

As I mentioned in the game thread, nobody wants to lose Jones, but we definitely don't want to lose Hightower or Collins either.

The hard truth is that it's a lot harder to develop interior linebackers than it is to develop outside rushers, so Hightower and Collins are our priority to resign. We probably won't have enough left over to sign Jones to an extension.

The even harder truth is that the Patriots drafted two DEs this past April, so the pipeline is fuller at that position than it is at LB. Depending on his illness, you may be able to add Rufus to that equation as well.

 

[Froob]

Did anyone want to trade him? Don't recall seeing that.

Yeah many did during preseason to free up cap. If we have to trade him so be it, but don't do it until this off season.

 

[manxman2601]

Just looking at the contract situation through 2016. We already have Jones locked up through 2016. The following contracts could all be off the books by the time the 2017 season comes around:

Jerod Mayo
Danny Amendola
Jabaal Sheard
Sebastian Vollmer
Marcus Cannon
Rob Ninkovich
Brandon Lafell
Scott Chandler

Of those, Sheard is the only one I think we should really try and keep. That's a lot of salary to come off before the 2017 season, and doesn't taken into account the rises in the salary cap before that.

looking at the players I'd probably want to extend prior to the 2017 season:

Chandler Jones
Don't Hightower
Jamie Collins
Malcolm Butler

Maybe:

Matt Slater
Duran Harmon
Logan Ryan
Michael Williams

I think it's possible to make the maths work on extending the big three.

 

[IllegalContact]

there's plenty of room to keep all 3

 

[luuked]

Leads the league in sacks with 8.5. Hopefully can extend him, would have been soooo dumb to trade him on his rookie contract with fifth year still available.

As others have said, it all depends.

If someone offers us a first round pick I would consider trading him. In my opinion Hightower and Collins have higher priority anyway and that first round pick could be used to get either another highly talented edge rusher on a rookie contract or -- more likely -- turned into multiple additional chess pieces.

In a world without a salary cap there is no question you keep Chandler Jones. But the reality is a bit more complex..

 

[manxman2601]

The even harder truth is that the Patriots drafted two DEs this past April, so the pipeline is fuller at that position than it is at LB. Depending on his illness, you may be able to add Rufus to that equation as well.

I wonder if Flowers ends up being Sheard/Ninkovich long-term replacement. I think he fits the edge setting, run stopping disciplined, competent pass rushing play we get from Ninkovich rather than an athletic pass rusher like Chandler Jones.