Trading Chandler Jones was the fiscally responsible thing to do by the Patriots.

One of the reasons the Patriots traded Chandler Jones is they didn’t want to pay him like a top five player at his position. With all of the money that has been thrown the last two weeks at the defensive end position, Jones would have cost the Patriots a fortune to retain.

To put it into perspective. Olivier Vernon got an $85 million dollar deal from the Giants last week. $52 million of it is guaranteed. Both Jones and Vernon are the same age. Vernon has 29 career sacks, Jones has 36 career sacks. Do the math. If guys like Vernon or Malik Jackson could get contracts in the $85-$90 million dollar range, what would Jones get in the open market? I bet he gets the same type of deal if not more. That type of contract would have been way too rich for the fiscally conservative Patriots.

I don’t blame them. I don’t think Jones is worth that kind of money. He struggles against the run and he’s wildly inconsistent. I know some Patriots fans will disagree with me but guys like Jones are a dime a dozen. You can develop pass rushers, especially in this day in age. The game is more specialized than ever. Guys are playing less and less snaps. You don’t pay the one down pony. You pay the guy that can play three downs. That’s why its so important to develop players that can play all three downs and stop the run. Malik Jackson does that better than Jones. That’s why you pay him $90 million dollars.

As I said yesterday. The Patriots valued their other impending free agents more and rightfully so. You pay guys like Hightower, Collins, Butler and Ryan because your defense is only as good as your linebackers and defensive backs. If your back seven isn’t any good, your defense won’t be good. Its a passing league now. You pay the guys that can cover first.

The Patriots will miss Jones to a certain extent but in the end, he was replaceable. Hightower and Collins are far more valuable to the structure of the defense. That and they won’t cost as much as Jones to re-sign. That’s why the Patriots decided to trade Jones. He brought back a greater return than they would have and they won’t be as expensive. I’m just saying.