Friday, February 12, 2010

Matt Jones Signs One-Year Deal With Cincinnati Bengals



The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that the Cincinnati Bengals have come to terms and have signed former Jacksonville Jaguar, Matt Jones. The deal is reported to be for one year, worth $700K.

Reports yesterday were that Jones had received contract offers from two NFL teams. The two teams being the Bengals and the Tennessee Titans.

A first round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005 where he was converted from quarterback at Arkansas to wide receiver, Jones (6'6" 218) showed flashes in his rookie year, but seemed to plateau immediately.

That's where his legal troubles began.

Jones was arrested in July of 2008 with two friends and was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance.

Despite the charges, Jones played for the Jaguars in 2008, and was having one of his best seasons statistically (65 rec, 761 yds, 2 TD). However, after losing an appeal of a three game suspension to the NFL, Jones was unable to finish the season after 12 games played.

Jones was then arrested again in March of 2009 after he failed a drug test in which he tested positive for alcohol in his system which was a violation of his probation. This lead to him serving jail time after he opted to be imprisoned rather than be sent to a six-week treatment program that would have interfered with the beginning of training camp.

Jones would end up missing training camp completely as he was released by the Jaguars just two days after being released from jail.

With the signing of Jones, it may put other rumors of Terrell Owens joining the Bengals this season. Jones is 27 while Terrell Owens, a future Hall-of-Famer, is going to be 36 when next season rolls around.

Not to say that an Owens signing is completely out of the picture, but it just became less likely.

Jones may not make the team at all once we've gone through off-season roster cuts and training camps, but he possess the potential to be the starting wide receiver opposite of Chad Ochocinco. Hopefully, this kid can keep himself clean and go on to have a productive and good career as he can.



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