I thought he was signed through 09, but I could be wrong. Regardless, the Browns were not happy with his production this past season but he will remain the starting safety. If his contract does expire at the end of 08 I'd believe they're taking an "earn your contract" approach to this season and think Jones wouldn't be wise to sign a contract now as it seems to be a low point in his value. If he has a good season I would expect him to re-sign or be franchised next season as safety's are typically not too expensive to franchise. I think he'd be the only expiring contract next season of any value, but am nowhere near 100% about that as I've been in baseball mode ever since the Super Bowl ended with the exception being wave one of free agency.
You have a link please?This is from the Browns website
Positon Recap : Safeties
I listen to about 4 hours of Cleveland sports radio per day, lots of Browns personnel end up on the programs over the course of a year, the guys in the station's connections with the Browns have relayed similar messages on to them. He missed a lot of playmaking opportunities, was out of position more often than 06, wasn't as helpful on run defense, and was guilty of way too many bad angles. I don't have any links, take it with a grain of salt if you wish, but you've been warned. They liked what they saw out of him in 06, but thought he took a step back last season.I don't put much stock into what the writers at clevelandbrowns.com write, all love, no criticism; it was the same before last season when we were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league.
Fair enough. If I remember correctly, Jones struggled early in the season, specifically his coverage in reference to the TE, however ... he stepped up his play in the 2nd half and looked more like the player in '06. As the article below states
Jones has come under heavy criticism this season for getting beat by tight ends - and for struggling without Russell directing the backfield traffic.
Cleveland Browns safety Sean Jones comes up with another big stop
Browns promote Mel Tucker to defensive coordinator
I find it particularly interesting you would promte your DB coach to DC, under the circumstances:
He missed a lot of playmaking opportunities, was out of position more often than 06, wasn't as helpful on run defense, and was guilty of way too many bad angles.
Don't you think him going backwards would somewhat be a direct reflection on the positions coach?
Hey ... I'm not a Browns homer, so your more in tune than I.
Grantham was fired because of a power struggle with Romeo, a soft defensive scheme, and losing faith in the players, Tucker was brought up because he relates well with the players and his scheme is expected to be more aggressive. I believe our secondary looked bad last year because we played in a lot of soft coverages which yielded a lot of yardage, Tucker can't be blamed for a bad scheme he did not develop. As for Jones, he was doing too much on his own last year, he got a little too over confident and started doing things he shouldn't have been that he hadn't done before. Being the teacher to Pool instead of the student to Russell was undoubtebly something new too. From things that I heard some combo of his teammates and Tucker put Jones in place and got his head back on straight, it took some time for it to translate onto the field. DOn't get me wrong, he's a quality locker room guy, just kind of lost focus on the field. They saw some glimpses in December of the Jones of 06, but want to see the same progress in 08 before an extension is offered. Again, this is all based off the info I've gathered 2nd hand, how much of it holds weight, I don't know, but these sources have been quite reliable in the past.
