The strange Chandler Jones saga may not cool down anytime soon. The Raiders are moving the veteran pass rusher to their reserve/non-football illness list, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
At odds with the team since just before Week 1, Jones has made a number of statements blasting the Raiders and their top staffers. The team had deactivated Jones for its first two games; this designation will sideline him for the next four. Jones is dealing with a personal issue, and Rapoport adds the Raiders have not ruled out a return “if his situation improves.” The former All-Pro’s second year with the Raiders has devolved into quite the mess, however.
Irate at being locked out of the Raiders’ facility days before Week 1, Jones went on social media and blasted Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. He since shared a text exchange with owner Mark Davis. The Raiders shelved Jones for their Week 1 game against the Broncos. Jones had also indicated on social media that the Raiders sent a crisis team to his house, posting a series of since-deleted Instagram stories explaining the events and questioning why he was not allowed to play in Denver. Jones also shared that the NFLPA has attempted to contact him.
Recently, Jones kept adding to this bizarre dust-up by saying Davis is “holding a huge secret.” The Raiders deactivated Jones again for their Week 2 Bills tilt. Raider players and others around the league have expressed concern for Jones’ health, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini tweets. Jones has not practiced with the Raiders since the locked-door incident.
“I wish mark Davis told the ppl why I really can’t play,” Jones said (sic). “I think I know why, but I want y’all to ask him. I’ll let him say it to the public not me lmao. I wish I could play with my brothers, but marky mark is holding a huge secret that only I know! That’s why I was asking for my protection sorry if I sound scared because I’m not lol, when I found out I was lol.”
The Raiders gave Jones a three-year, $51MM deal in 2022. While the former Patriots and Cardinals standout disappointed last season, he was still expected to start opposite Maxx Crosby this year. The Raiders used the No. 7 overall pick on Tyree Wilson, signaling Jones’ tenure would likely be capped at two seasons. It is obviously not a lock Jones plays for the Raiders again, and the team can opt to not pay the 12th-year veteran while he is on the NFI list. It is not yet known if the Raiders will go that route. Considering how this odd storyline has unfolded, Jones may well let the public know if the Raiders have decided not to pay him. If the Raiders choose not to pay Jones during his NFI stay, the damage would be minimal thanks to an offseason restructure that reduced his 2023 base salary to $1.2MM.
A two-time All-Pro while with the Cardinals, Jones had angled for a trade ahead of his final Arizona season. He ended up playing out his five-year Cards contract in 2021, bouncing back from a biceps injury that ended his 2020 season, and rejoining McDaniels in free agency. McDaniels was in place as New England’s offensive coordinator during Jones’ first four years. Jones’ Patriots stay wrapped not long after an unusual episode that featured the team’s top pass rusher showing up shirtless at a Foxborough police station after a reaction to synthetic marijuana. Contract matters led to the Patriots trading him to the Cardinals during the ’16 offseason, leading to a run of strong seasons.
This Raiders issue will undoubtedly impact Jones’ ability to catch on elsewhere when that time comes. Las Vegas has kept Wilson as a rotational rusher to start the season.
‘The Pats way’ just isn’t much. Grumpy, arrogant, jerks that made fortunes off….Tom. You know, I’m enjoying the season!
Trade him to the Bears. They’re collecting people who have Personal problems.
His remarks about Mark Davis ‘having secrets’ just might hold water as Al always seemed to have some kind of edge and got tough with the league enough to make Rozelle back up more than once.
Jerry Jones has that knack also…..makes a body wonder
You’re giving Mark Davis too much credit. Chandler had gone off the deep end and (strictly my personal opinion) they were right to call mental health professionals. There’s zero reason for the raiders to keep him away (we’re headed for 15+ years straight of a terrible defense.)
Agreed. It seems that Jones has some sort of issue-but Vegas could certainly use him on the field. It’s not any of our business, frankly, what specifically set him off, but at the end of the day, this issue seems oddly handled by both the player and the team. At least to me. I’ll yield to anyone with more specific knowledge of the issue(s).
This seems like we are all jumping to the “living with CTE” but I feel like there’s more to this story, it’s absolutely bizarre and while Jones does seem to need help I also feel like we are only really getting Raiders fed reports which makes me believe the Raiders are hiding something
The only part I’ve seen really is Chandler Jones’ tweets annd the Raiders not publicly commenting. And if you check the other articles on here about this, it’s mostly people blaming the Raiders and trashing the organization. I saw this for the first time and I immediately thought to myself this reeks of Antonio Brown’s antics and I hope he gets whatever he needs before he goes that route fully.
And like sands through the hour glass…these are the days of our lives.
This should go over well.
I hope Chandler Jones gets the help he needs.
Typical Raiders, Adams will want out in the off season……or sooner
Yeah, call me a conspiracy theorist, but this reeks of “coverup” to me.
There’s no conspiracy theory going on with chandler Jones, only he knows and Raiders upper management knows what is going on, everyone goes through personal life issues, he’s has taken a lot of hits playing football and maybe he mentally has been feeling different , he’s a man and a tough man, to admit something is wrong with him, not knowing to seek help and now his thoughts are uncontrollable, maybe he took to many hits playing football or some other personal life issues. Just saying, never judge, laugh, put down, accuse, a person’s accusations towards another person doesn’t make you any better. I’m just saying, thinking out loud.