Thomas Jones leaves and the Bears don’t care?
March 8, 2007 by James Edwards
Filed under Sports
NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Yeah, he will be 30 next season, which is pretty long in the tooth for a running back, but still, this is Thomas Jones. The man can run!
The Chicago Bears traded him to the Jets and also exchanged 2nd round picks.
Bears fans around here in Michigan and others on the radio say they are glad to see him leave.
So what gives? After all, since joining the Bears, Jones has had 3 solid years both running and receiving.
Did not matter to the Bears management. They were paying Cedric Benson more money and felt his time had come.
The fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft, Benson showed glimpses of his potential when he ran for 647 yards last season, although his tenure with the Bears has been shaky. A lengthy contract holdout wiped out his first preseason, and there are questions about his durability.
Benson missed six games with a knee injury as a rookie, and a shoulder injury in training camp knocked him out of a competition with Jones for the No. 1 spot last season. Benson was productive in the latter stages, after being stuck on the sideline, but he left with a knee injury after two carries in the Super Bowl.
Although having a one-two combo worked well for the Bears last season, the relationship between Jones and Benson was icy. Jones had asked for a trade a year ago and got his wish this week, but his departure leaves Chicago without a finesse running back to go along with the bruising Benson and Adrian Peterson. source
The Bears have woes
So what gives with the Bears?
The contract of defensive coordinator Ron Rivera wasn’t renewed even though Rivera was a candidate for several head coaching jobs after the Bears’ defense ranked among the best the past two seasons. He is now coaching San Diego’s linebackers, and Bob Babich got promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator. Quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson took a job with Dallas, and defensive line coach Don Johnson and assistant offensive line coach Harold Goodwin are gone. Chicago hired Hardy Nickerson as linebackers coach and Brick Haley as defensive line coach. source
Add to all this the fact that Lance Briggs got slapped with the franchise tag, which always makes a player bitter as all get out.
We will find out this year if Cedric Benson can make Bear’s fans happy or will they need a new back.
One thing is for sure, the complexion of the Bears is changing and Thomas Jones will be a Jet!
NFL Football Fan Question This trade looks pretty one sided in favor of the Jets. So why do Bear’s fans like this deal?
As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.
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Tags: nfl football
Thinking of NFL teams now is that rather than pay a veteran back with a few years of bangs and bruises on his body it makes more sense to go out and get a younger guy that is more salary cap friendly, will do whatever you say, has a fresh body and will run the same plays as the veteran player. Its all about the system baby, not the player. After all, there aren’t many Barry Sanders around but there are a lot of Rueben Draughs and Sedrick Bensons.
Problem is, T Jones produced. C Benson has not.
the Bears have done it again if Cedric Benson last the whole season even he will be surprised,he is an accident waiting to happen if the Bears hadnt disrespected Thomas Jones you would have seen a different running back.he has proven himself wheras benson hasnt