On Friday, the New York Jets will cut running back Thomas Jones, in order to avoid paying him a $2.8 million roster bonus.
But then the Jets will try to re-sign him, a league source tells us.
The team’s ongoing interest in Jones makes sense, given the decision to apply only a second-round tender to Leon Washington. Surely, they won’t be going from a multi-player rushing game to Shonn Greene and a rookie; so if Leon leaves they’ll need another veteran.
That veteran could be Thomas Jones.
The fact that the Jets would risk losing Jones, arguably the most attractive of the exiled tailbacks, further confirms that big-market teams won’t spend more than they think they should spend even without a salary cap. The easy approach would be to pay Jones and not risk having to replace him; the Jets instead are more inclined to keep their the money and take their chances.