Titans Offer Matt Jones A Contract

According to The Tennessean, Matt Jones could be back in the NFL for the 2010 season. The wide receiver didn’t participate in the 2009 season after his release from the Jacksonville Jaguars but it appears the Tennessee Titans have offered him a contract.

The Titans brought Jones in for a workout in September but things didn’t work, so they never offered him a contract. With the Titans now doing so, I’m thinking their are two reasons.

One is timing. It was already in-season and there wouldn’t of been much time for Jones to learn the playbook before game action.

The second is that the Titans want some more veteran presence at the wide receiver position. They’ve got rookie Kenny Britt, Justin Gage and Nate Washington but not much behind them. So bringing in a veteran like Jones could be beneficial if he can get back up to NFL speed.

Jones has had a troubled past with substance abuse but there is no doubt the youngster has promise. At 6′6 the 27 year old can do things with his height that many others can’t. 2008 his last season in the NFL was a breakout season for him, catching 65 balls for 761 yards. He was poised for an even bigger 2009 before he violated his legal deal by drinking alcohol at a golf outing prompting the Jaguars to release him.

Personally, I’m glad he’s getting another chance especially after what he was released for. It’s not like he was caught using a banned NFL substance OR something illegal. He had an alcoholic beverage, but yet again I guess that was technically illegal under his diversion program but still was that something for him to be released for? That I don’t know.

Profootballtalk.com also says the Bengals are listed in Jones service, makes sense as they’ve had a void at receiver since Chris Henry’s passing. Regardless of where he winds up it will be interesting to see what he can do after a year off.

Thinking about it this could give us a little bit of an idea what a receiver can do after such time off, you know with Plaxico Burress attempting to return in 2011 after two seasons off.