Ronald Jones, barring an “extraordinary” offer, will not be dealt before the the trade deadline, according to Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians. Teams have until Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline to execute a trade.
While Arians had recently announced that Jones was not available for trade, speculation has continued to circle around the possibility of Jones being dealt before the deadline. That speculation was increased Monday with the news that Titans running back Derrick Henry suffered a potential season-ending foot injury during Tennessee’s Week 8 win over the Colts and will undergo surgery.
“It would have to be something really, really special. Because I love the way he’s running,” Arians said of Jones, via ESPN’s Jenna Laine. “It’s just one nick on Leonard and then Rojo’s the guy. And so to me, it’s still a great one-two punch. It would have to be extraordinary.”
As Arians alluded to on Monday, Jones would be in line to start in the event that Leonard Fournette suffers an injury. While his numbers have dipped this season, Jones is still capable of producing when called upon. He ran for 63 yards on 10 carries in Tampa Bay’s Week 7 win over the Bears. Jones is averaging 4.4 yards per carry this season, a year after he averaged a career-high 5.1 yards per carry. In 14 games (and 13 starts) in 2020, Jones ran for a career-high 978 yards and seven touchdowns. He had the season’s longest run, a 98-yard score against the Panthers in Week 10.
While Fournette was the star, Jones also enjoyed a solid 2020 postseason. After not playing in the Buccaneers’ wild card win over Washington, Jones ran for 139 yards on 35 carries in Tampa Bay’s playoff wins over the Saints, Packers and Chiefs. He ran for 61 yards on 12 carries in Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win over Kansas City in Super Bowl LV.
The Chiefs, Titans, and Bears are among the list of teams that could use some help at running back. If these or any other teams want to acquire Jones, it’s clear that they will have to come with a pretty strong offer before Tuesday’s deadline.
