Patriots roster analysis: Jonathan Jones’ role might change yet again

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Our offseason series continues with an in-depth look at the eighth-year cornerback.

Free agency, the draft, and the offseason workout program are all in the rear-view mirror, meaning that the New England Patriots have fully turned the page to 2023.

At the moment, they have 88 players on their roster. Only 53 of those will be able to survive roster cutdowns and ultimately make the active team, with others competing for practice squad spots. Over the course of spring and summer, just like we have in years past, we will take an in-depth look at the men fighting for those spots to find out who has the best chances of helping New England rebound from a disappointing 2022 season.

Today, the series continues with eighth-year cornerback Jonathan Jones.

Name: Jonathan Jones

Position: Cornerback

Opening day age: 29 (9/20/1993)

Size: 5’10”, 190 lbs

Jersey number: 31

Contract status: Signed through 2024 (2025 UFA)

Two years after pulling Malcolm Butler out of their hat, the Patriots found another diamond-in-the-rough among the group of rookie free agent defensive backs. Even though he did not hear his name called in the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones developed into a reliable player for the New England defense. While he started his career primarily in the kicking game, he was increasingly used on the defensive side of the ball as well from 2017 on and is now headed into free agency sporting a starter-level résumé.

Seeing action as a versatile cornerback and on special teams, Jones appeared in a combined 109 regular season and playoff games. He helped New England win two Super Bowls (and also would have played a big role in the 2017 title game had he not suffered a season-ending ankle injury three weeks earlier), with his performance against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII in particular standing out: working as a safety/cornerback hybrid, he helped the Patriots’ zone-based defense dominate en route to a 13-3 win.

Jones’ impact in one of the biggest games of his career cannot be underestimated, but he has been a productive player throughout his time in the New England secondary. One of the league’s better slot defenders, who moved to the outside during the 2022 campaign, he made his fair share of big plays: Jones registered 11 total interceptions, including one pick-six and forced eight fumbles while recovering two. He may not be a household name, but Jones has become a valuable member of the Patriots’ defense over the last seven years.

Stats: 16 games (16 starts) | 914 defensive snaps (80.9%), 116 special teams snaps (25.4%) | 68 tackles, 7 missed tackles (9.3%), 3 forced fumbles | 91 targets, 48 catches (52.7%), 588 yards, 5 TDs,4 INTs | 1 special teams tackle, 1 blocked punt

Season recap: Coming off a season-ending shoulder injury, Jones returned to a cornerback room that looked markedly different than it had the previous year. Gone were starting outside options Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson — the former was traded during the 2021 season, the latter left in free agency — with the team bringing in two mid-round draft picks in Marcus and Jack Jones to help replace them. Through all this movement, Jones himself received a new role as well.

After having spent virtually all of his career up until that point to the slot, the Patriots decided to move Jones to the perimeter in 2022. He ended up playing a majority of his defensive snaps — 778 of 914 (85.1%) — split out wide.

In total, he was on the field for 80.9 percent of New England’s 1,130 defensive snaps and ended the season as the team’s No. 1 cornerback in terms of on-field opportunities. Despite missing the Week 6 game in Cleveland with an ankle injury, Jones was one of the team’s most dependable players.

Even though he had virtually no experience playing on the boundary, the Patriots trusted him to fill the role previously held by Pro Bowler J.C. Jackson. Jones was not the ballhawk that Jackson was, nor an all-around elite cornerback like Stephon Gilmore, but he did have plenty of good moments: he finished the season allowing a completion percentage of just 52.7 percent, tied Devin McCourty for the team lead with four interceptions, had a pick-six in Week 9 against the Indianapolis Colts, and forced three fumbles.

Both of Jonathan Jones' turnovers showed incredible awareness and effort. First dropped off his man coverage assignment after diagnosing the route concept downfield, then later stole the rock from Bateman.Probably would've gotten the game ball had NE finished the job pic.twitter.com/6r7Lpa2lYg

Jones did all that while regularly going up against some of the better wide receiver talent the NFL had to offer — from Tyreek Hill, to Justin Jefferson, to Stefon Diggs, to Ja’Marr Chase. Of course, players of this quality are bound to win their fair share of matchups and they did so on several occasions against Jones.

In total, he surrendered 588 yards and five touchdowns on the 48 receptions he gave up on the year; not necessarily concerning numbers but still reflective of Jones’ status: he is a very good player who showed his durability, versatility and value to the New England defensive operation, but also not a true CB1. The Patriots were not hurt too much by that fact last season, due to a variety of factors working in Jones’ favor — from the pass-rush support, to the defensive play-calls and coverage setups.

That said, both his positive traits and his shortcomings were on display more prominently than ever before. The result was an overall productive if sometimes inconsistent season.

Of course, Jones’ contributions to the 2022 Patriots extended beyond his defensive role. He also was a regular in the kicking game, seeing action on 116 of a possible 457 special teams snaps (25.4%). Playing on the kickoff coverage, punt return, and field goal/extra point blocking units Jones had one of the team’s biggest special teams plays of the season: in that aforementioned game against the Colts, he registered a blocked punt. He also was credited with one special teams tackle on the year.

What will be his role in 2023? At this point in time, Jones’ role for 2023 remains very much to be determined. As things stand at the moment and with Jack Jones still on the roster — the sophomore is facing some serious legal issues following a recent arrest — he projects as either a starter-level outside cornerback, possibly on the field side, or the No. 1 option in the slot. He has experience playing both positions, so the Patriots will use training camp to find out where to best employ him within the composition of their secondary.

What is his growth potential? Jones has already proven himself one of the NFL’s better slot cornerbacks, and heading into his age-30 season there is little room for growth from that perspective. That said, he a) still can improve his abilities as an outside cornerback if the team opts to use him that way, and b) likely needs to take on a more active role as an on-field communicator and off-field leader with long-time team captain Devin McCourty now retired; with McCourty gone, Jones is the longest-tenured member of the Patriots secondary.

Does he have positional versatility? Jones can line up pretty much everywhere in the New England secondary and on special teams. He started his career in the slot, moved to the outside last season, and also has experience playing deep and box safety; wherever the Patriots need a hand, he will be able to contribute. In the kicking game, he has seen action on five units before ultimately settling into a three-area role — kickoff coverage, punt return, and field goal/extra point blocking — the last few years.

What is his salary cap situation? An unrestricted free agent, the Patriots signed Jones to a new two-year, $19 million deal that is coming with a $6.91 million salary cap charge this season. It consists of a fully-guaranteed $1.5 million base salary and $3.75 million signing bonus proration as well as $1 million in active roster bonuses — $941,176 of which considered likely to be earned given that he was active for 16 of 17 games last year.

How safe is his roster spot? Jones is a lock to make the Patriots’ roster for several reasons. Not only did he sign a new contract relatively recently, he also is the team’s longest-tenured defensive back and as such a viable part of the operation. In addition, the 29-year-old has played some good football both in the slot and last year in a new role as an outside cornerback. Having him around simply gives the team more talent, experience and versatility in the backend — three things of the utmost important given the departure of Devin McCourty.

One-sentence projection: Rookie Christian Gonzalez will be the Patriots’ nominal CB1 this season, but Jones will continue to be right up there in terms of playing time and overall importance to the defense.

What do you think about Jonathan Jones heading into the 2023 season? Will he continue to be used on the outside? Will he see more action in the slot again? Please head down to the comment section to discuss.