Jones-Drew Opts To Stay Away

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew has made clear his desire for a new contract. He said last month on The Dan Patrick Show that he’s one of the best -- if not the best -- running backs in the game, and that he should be the highest-paid at his position. So with no new contract given to Jones-Drew, Jones-Drew has exercised his prerogative to stay away from voluntary workouts, which opened Monday. “Everyone was accounted for,” coach Jack Del Rio said via text message, according to the Florida Times-Union. But that doesn’t mean everyone was present. Per the Times-Union, Jones-Drew is angling for a deal that averages $8 million per year, with $20 million guaranteed. Jones-Drew’s agent is reportedly using Steven Jackson’s six-year, $49.3 million deal as a “baseline.” That’s fine, but until Jones-Drew rushes for more than 1,500 yards (or, for that matter, more than 950 yards), he should adjust his expectations. Jones-Drew has yet to perform like an every-down back. It’s unclear whether he can survive the pounding that such duty entails. So why should the Jags pay him like Jackson or Adrian Peterson or LaDainian Tomlinson until Jones-Drew plays like one or both or all of them? Jones-Drew rushed for 941 yards as a rookie, 768 in his second year, and 824 a season ago. He has four career starts. Those aren’t the kind of numbers that justify a huge-money deal. So his best bet will be to honor his contract, become a restricted free agent (absent a new CBA), and hope that the team chooses then to sign him to a long-term deal -- or that another team is willing to part with a first-round pick and a third-round pick for a tailback who might be able to become given the departure of Fred Taylor the kind of constant presence who will churn up big yardage in the running game. Though what he lacks in size he apparently makes up for in confidence, Jones-Drew is not yet an elite running back. When he is, then he should get the contract that goes along with it.