After spending the past two seasons with the Chicago Bears, defensive tackle Justin Jones was not re-signed by the Bears this past offseason. During his time in Chicago, Jones gathered 7.5 sacks, 101 combined tackles (57 solo and 44 assists), and 22 TFLs.
Although Jones found some success as a Bear, his services were no longer needed. Instead, the Bears looked to move forward with second-year player Gervon Dexter and veteran Andrew Billings at defensive tackle.
While Jones may have been looking to join a Super Bowl contender during free agency, that's not how things shook out. Instead, the Arizona Cardinals signed him to a three-year deal worth $31.165 million.
The Cardinals are rebuilding their defense much like the Bears were when they signed Jones. The contract the Cardinals gave Jones shows they think he could be a key part of their defensive line rebuild.
However, there is already discourse among the Cardinals media and fanbase that Jones was a bad signing after one game.
On Sunday against the Bills, Jones recorded one solo tackle, one tackle assist, two QB hurries, and two QB pressures according to PFF. Compared to some of his days with the Bears, that sounds like solid production from Jones.
Taking a closer look though, Jones did receive pretty poor grades from PFF. Jones finished Sunday with an overall grade of 43.3, a run defense grade of 39.4, and a pass defense grade of 55.7. While PFF grades aren't gospel, they do give a look into how a player played in a certain game.
Even though the Cardinals gave Jones a decent contract, he's not going to be a player who fills the stat sheet each week. Cardinals media and fans are just going to have to accept that fact.
