PhxGametime
Formerly Bball_31
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
Arizona's Thomas Jones has surfaced as the latest candidate to become the Chiefs' backup halfback to Priest Holmes.
Jones is not a free agent but is expendable since the Cardinals last month signed Emmitt Smith. The Chiefs have been waiting for Arizona to release Jones but instead may soon initiate trade talks with the Cardinals.
"We're evaluating him," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. "He came out a first-round pick, a high first-round pick. Things haven't gone real well for him, but he's shown some flashes of brilliance."
The Cardinals drafted Jones from Virginia in the first round in 2000 with the seventh overall pick. Jones has hardly been worthy of such a high selection, rushing for only 1,264 yards, or slightly less than 3.5 per carry, in three NFL seasons.
Jones missed five games at the end of last season because of a broken hand. The Cardinals said Jones broke the hand in a household accident and indicated he was no longer part of their plans when they refused to pay his salary for the games he missed because it was a non-football related injury.
But Jones appears to be a better fit for the Chiefs than Olandis Gary of Denver, who made a free-agent visit with the club this week. The Chiefs may delay attempts to sign Gary until they've exhausted possibilities with Jones or at least until after the draft next weekend.
Vermeil called Jones the same style of player as Holmes where Gary is more of a straight-ahead runner.
"I see a little of Priest in Jones," Vermeil said. "He's a very good receiver. But he doesn't fit unless he's here. If he's not here, you try to fit somebody else in.
"We haven't even talked to the kid. If I were him, I'd want to go someplace where I'd have a good chance to start. Nobody's going to beat out Priest Holmes. But it also might be a good opportunity for him to re-establish himself."
The Chiefs have long been aware that Jones had fallen from favor in Arizona and would at some point become available. But Vermeil said the recent surge of interest in Jones wasn't an indication the Chiefs are losing hope that Holmes would recover from the hip injury that prematurely ended last season for him.
"We think we're competitive to win it all," Vermeil said. "We've got to make sure we evaluate every opportunity to improve our roster. This will help us compete at that level even if we do get somebody banged up."
The Chiefs had yet to make a trade offer, but it would make sense if either of two wide receivers, Sylvester Morris and Marvin Minnis, is included. The Cardinals recently lost their two top wide receivers in free-agency and have nobody as accomplished as either Morris or Minnis.
Minnis and Morris could have a difficult time making the Chiefs roster next year. One problem with trading Morris is that the Chiefs would absorb a hit of $2.4 million against their salary cap.
The Kansas City Star
Arizona's Thomas Jones has surfaced as the latest candidate to become the Chiefs' backup halfback to Priest Holmes.
Jones is not a free agent but is expendable since the Cardinals last month signed Emmitt Smith. The Chiefs have been waiting for Arizona to release Jones but instead may soon initiate trade talks with the Cardinals.
"We're evaluating him," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. "He came out a first-round pick, a high first-round pick. Things haven't gone real well for him, but he's shown some flashes of brilliance."
The Cardinals drafted Jones from Virginia in the first round in 2000 with the seventh overall pick. Jones has hardly been worthy of such a high selection, rushing for only 1,264 yards, or slightly less than 3.5 per carry, in three NFL seasons.
Jones missed five games at the end of last season because of a broken hand. The Cardinals said Jones broke the hand in a household accident and indicated he was no longer part of their plans when they refused to pay his salary for the games he missed because it was a non-football related injury.
But Jones appears to be a better fit for the Chiefs than Olandis Gary of Denver, who made a free-agent visit with the club this week. The Chiefs may delay attempts to sign Gary until they've exhausted possibilities with Jones or at least until after the draft next weekend.
Vermeil called Jones the same style of player as Holmes where Gary is more of a straight-ahead runner.
"I see a little of Priest in Jones," Vermeil said. "He's a very good receiver. But he doesn't fit unless he's here. If he's not here, you try to fit somebody else in.
"We haven't even talked to the kid. If I were him, I'd want to go someplace where I'd have a good chance to start. Nobody's going to beat out Priest Holmes. But it also might be a good opportunity for him to re-establish himself."
The Chiefs have long been aware that Jones had fallen from favor in Arizona and would at some point become available. But Vermeil said the recent surge of interest in Jones wasn't an indication the Chiefs are losing hope that Holmes would recover from the hip injury that prematurely ended last season for him.
"We think we're competitive to win it all," Vermeil said. "We've got to make sure we evaluate every opportunity to improve our roster. This will help us compete at that level even if we do get somebody banged up."
The Chiefs had yet to make a trade offer, but it would make sense if either of two wide receivers, Sylvester Morris and Marvin Minnis, is included. The Cardinals recently lost their two top wide receivers in free-agency and have nobody as accomplished as either Morris or Minnis.
Minnis and Morris could have a difficult time making the Chiefs roster next year. One problem with trading Morris is that the Chiefs would absorb a hit of $2.4 million against their salary cap.
