A trade scenario was recently suggested that involved the Arizona Cardinals sending Chandler Jones to the Miami Dolphins.
Speculation about what the future could look like for Chandler Jones in an Arizona Cardinals uniform has certainly increased during the last few weeks.
The thoughts of him potentially playing elsewhere seemed to die down when Jones showed up to take photos with his Cardinals teammates during the team’s recent media day. But then Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury recently announced that the veteran pass rusher is not expected to attend the team’s upcoming mandatory minicamp and the doubts about his future are back in full force.
With his current contract set to expire in 2022, the 31-year-old Jones is apparently looking for a new deal before he returns to the field for the Cardinals. If he is unable to get what he wants, could he end up asking Arizona to trade him before the start of the 2021 season?
Trading Chandler Jones to the Miami Dolphins suggested for the Arizona Cardinals
With Jones not being expected to attend the Cardinals’ mandatory minicamp this year, there is uncertainly surrounding his future with the franchise, and it’s totally fair.
For 2021, the Arizona pass rusher has a cap hit of $21 million, and he will bring home $15.5 million in cash. So it’s not like the Cardinals aren’t already giving him a decent chunk of change.
Jones’ efforts to get a new deal are likely due to him wanting to make sure he will continue getting paid a high amount of money after the 2021 season. He knows that if he becomes a free agent in 2022, he might not be able to get a contract from another team that will pay him close to what he’s due to make this year.
So what happens if Arizona and Jones can’t agree to a new deal? Does he ask for a trade, and if he does, are the Cardinals willing to shop him around?
If this happens, Arizona fans should pay attention to the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins currently have a similar situation on their hands with cornerback Xavien Howard, and recently, Pro Football Network’s James Fragoza recently shared a trade scenario that would send Howard to the Cardinals in exchange for Jones and some draft picks.
Fragoza mentions how Arizona’s front-seven could survive in 2021 without Jones since they also have guys like J.J. Watt, Isaiah Simmons, and rookie Zaven Collins on their roster. This trade would not only allow the Cardinals to get rid of a possibly toxic situation before the upcoming season, but they would add one of the NFL’s top corners to their secondary in Howard.
It’s definitely an interesting trade suggestion and one that could help Arizona get to the playoffs for the first time in Kingsbury’s tenure as the team’s head coach.