Christian Jones moves on to Detroit Lions
Former Chicago Bears linebacker Christian Jones has moved teams. Christian Jones is expected to sign with the Detroit Lions
Amongst the big signings by the Chicago Bears in the early stages of free agency, the team is expected to lose out on linebacker Christian Jones
Former Bears’ LB Christian Jones plans to sign a two-year deal with the Lions, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2018
The news may not come as too big of a surprise. The Bears 2014 Undrafted Free Agent from Florida State was up and down over his four-year career with the team. He came out of the gates hot, but over the years, a lot of his limitations were exposed.
The team tried to replace him with Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman and by the end of last season favored Nick Kwiatkoski and his youth and team control over Jones.
Freeman will not be back either, so expect the Bears to add to this position whether it be free agency or the draft. However, the Lions see Jones as a starter in their defense, and the Bears see him as their third best linebacker on a corps with room to grow.
The Bears will obviously be able to keep up with the career of Christian Jones, as he heads to a division rival. The Lions feared losing Tahir Whitehead, and likely saw Jones as a cheaper value in a similar role. The Lions are handing over the keys of the defense to former first round pick Jarrad Davis this season, so Jones is serving as a compliment and second linebacker to Davis.
With linebacker being a weaker position for the Bears in 2017, it will be interesting to see where these two rivals stand when they face off in the 2018 season.