Packers give up on former second-round pick Josh Jones
After leaving the Green Bay Packers’ voluntary offseason workouts, safety Josh Jones returned for the mandatory minicamp in mid-June.
After denying a report that he had requested to be traded, Jones said: “Listen, I’m here. However the coaches perceive you, however the personnel (department) perceive(s) you, they drafted you so that’s what you’ve got to live with for the time being.”
“For the time being ended on Sunday,” with Jones taking to Twitter to announce he had been released by the Packers.
A second-round pick in 2017 with a potential-packed combination of size and athleticism, Jones was a collosal disappointment. In two seasons, he started 12 times, had one interception – a game-saving pick to help beat winless Cleveland as a rookie – three sacks and 122 tackles. Most of his production and snaps came as a hybrid safety/linebacker.
Jones did not play in any of the preseason games and had missed the last several practices due to what was called an illness. While Jones’ departure from the team – whether through a trade or his release – seemed likely, that fate appeared to be cemented when the Packers signed veteran safety Ibraheim Campbell on Aug. 9. Raven Greene had been the No. 1 player at the safety/linebacker hybrid position throughout training camp, and that’s a position Campbell played during three games with the team last season.
With Mike Pettine as defensive coordinator in 2018, Jones played 501 defensive snaps; according to Pro Football Focus, 266 of those came in the box. With Dom Capers as defensive coordinator in 2017, Jones played 730 snaps; 354 of those came in the box. Added together, 50.4 percent of his defensive snaps in his two NFL seasons have come while aligned at linebacker.
At 220 pounds and with 4.41 speed in the 40, he was a natural for that hybrid spot. It wasn't Jones' preferred position, though.
“I’m not a linebacker,” Jones said when he returned for minicamp. “Y’all can get that out of your head. You can stop writing about that. That’s not going to happen.”
Pettine had his safeties on the field for 2,671 snaps compared to 1,471 snaps for his inside linebackers. The disparity isn’t solely because Pettine played a safety at inside linebacker but it does account for a big percentage of those snaps. It’s a trend that doesn’t figure to change.
Jones barely played during the first half of last season but got his chance when the team released Jermaine Whitehead and traded Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. He averaged 55 snaps over the final nine games. What Pettine and manager Brian Gutekunst saw wasn't good enough, because Gutekunst signed signed veteran Adrian Amos in free agency and used a first-round pick on Darnell Savage. With that, the door at safety for Jones appeared to have been closed – which no doubt factored in Jones’ decision to leave the offseason workouts and request a release.
Jones, however, was with the team for the start of training camp and appeared to be putting his best foot forward. On July 31, he was kicked out of practice for his role in a brief training camp skirmish.
“I think Josh has had a really good beginning to camp. He’s shown up and made some plays,” Gutekunst said during the first week of camp. “Obviously, the physical gifts are all there and he’s getting a lot of opportunities and I think there are some really positive signs that he can really help our football team. We’ve got a long way to go and a lot of competition in that back end right now but it’s been really positive to see him out there doing what he’s doing.”
Jones, however, never pushed Greene out of the first-team defense. Then came the re-signing of Campbell. Gutekunst no doubt tried to trade Jones over the past week or so but the market wasn’t there for a player who never was able to reach his prodigious potential and seemed to lack the instincts to play deep safety.
The Packers will eat the remaining $609,422 of his signing bonus but lose the base salaries of $849,856 for this season and $1,042,284 for 2020.
