Chandler Jones has been ruled out by the Las Vegas Raiders for the second week in a row, and based on his recent social media activities, he may be out even longer.
Jones' salary cap hit is way too high ($14.24 million) to simply sit out. According to Bleacher Report, trading Jones may be the Raiders' only alternative.
Alex Ballentine proposed a deal that would send the veteran defensive end to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2024.
"Inter-division deals are uncommon, although they do occur. Chandler Jones' best seasons as a player came while Vance Joseph was the team's defensive coordinator in Arizona," Ballentine wrote in a September 13 piece.
"These days, Joseph is back in Denver, calling defense for the Raiders' division rival." Trading within the division is never ideal, but the Raiders may be anxious merely to get Jones off the roster, according to Ballentine.
"Perhaps they'd demand an extra seventh-round pick just to say they won the trade," Ballentine said. "But the Raiders should probably be willing to trade Jones to any team willing to take him at this point."
Jones has a large contract and is coming off a season in which he had 4.5 sacks. Teams will be reluctant to trade for him, but acquiring him for a cheap draft pick may be worth the risk for a team like the Broncos.
With Chandler Jones continuing to express his concerns against the Raiders on social media, there's no reason to think he'll be back anytime soon.
The team maintains silent on the subject, making it much more difficult to grasp the situation. The timing for Jones' comeback is unknown, according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
"Because the Raiders' veteran pass rusher is dealing with a 'personal matter,' it is difficult to determine exactly what is going on." "At this point, predicting a return is also impossible," Bonsignore wrote in a September 15 mailbag.