The Chicago Bears have heard a lot of talks about extension candidates this offseason. Chase Claypool gets plenty of buzz after his trade away from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, there is the Ryan Pace crew of Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson, and Darnell Mooney who are all due. However, a name that is flying under the radar is Justin Jones.
Should Chicago Bears try to extend Justin Jones this offseason?
Jones is a different conversation because he was not a flashy trade, and is not a fan favorite from a past GMs draft. Ryan Poles signed Justin Jones just last year. So, while fans feel like they are just getting to know him, the Bears are once again staring down extension talks.
Justin Jones only signed a two-year deal with the team, so if he comes into the season without a deal, the odds of him leading in free agency next year go up exponentially.
There are two ways to look at it with Justin Jones. First, he is only 27, so he has plenty of good days ahead of him. A two or three-year upfront extension after this season would be perfect. The team drafted him for the spot, but they need depth upfront in the worst way, and he probably would be better served as depth. Still, he was their best pass rusher last season, so the Bears may feel a need to reward the one guy up front who played well.
On the flip side, the only reason Justin Jones was the best man upfront was that the line was so bad that it led them to the number one overall pick. His overall play was not great compared to the league. Depth is great, but they drafted two guys, and both of them have eyes on replacing Justin Jones as the top dog. Would they be paying Justin Jones similar money if they saw him as a third man at three-technique, and then a backup nose tackle?
The Chicago Bears may appreciate what Justin Jones and the GM obviously likes him, but he did prefer Larry Ogunjobi over and only signed him after he failed Ogunjobi on his physical. So, it is not like what Jones did last season was stuff that would change your whole opinion of him.
At the right price, Ryan Poles may be interested. However, he may be hoping that one of Zacch Pickens and Gervon Dexter makes it easy to move on from Justin Jones this offseason, so he may play that dangerous game of waiting until after the season to talk extension with Justin Jones.