New England Patriots trade DE Chandler Jones to Arizona Cardinals, where were the Jaguars?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made some huge moves this offseason to improve the defense, namely adding Malik Jackson, Tashaun Gipson, and Prince Amukamara, but they still have a pressing need at edge rusher. Dante Fowler Jr. is set to return from injury and will help, but it’s foolish to expect a rookie coming off an ACL tear to be super-effective right away.

Luke Sims discussed earlier the possibility of trading for a pass rusher but the idea seemed too far-fetched given the value placed on players who can get to the quarterback – teams don’t just trade away good pass rushers.

Well apparently they do, as the New England Patriots traded away star defensive end Chandler Jones.

The logic here, which I think is absolutely asinine and strings along the “Bill Belichick is a genius” spin cycle, is the Patriots didn’t want to pay Jones the kind of money Olivier Vernon got when he becomes a free agent next year. That’s somewhat rational, but trading away an effective, young pass rusher for a former first round bust and a second round pick seems like an arrogant move.

Flipping it back to the Jaguars, why weren’t they involved? The Patriots had reportedly made their intention to trade Jones public, so it’s not like this came as a huge surprise.

Obviously the Jaguars would have had to put together a similar package, but wouldn’t packaging their second round pick (which is significantly higher than the Cardinals) and a throw-in player been just as good?

Maybe the Jaguars were trying to sign Kelvin Beachum to give themselves the flexibility to make a trade offer but I doubt it.

We don’t know what the scenario is in this particular trade, but it’s frustrating to see another effective pass rusher change teams and not see the Jaguars end up on the winning-end of the transaction.