Sometimes, the Twitterverse writes your blog posts for you.
Back on March 6, Hog Heaven noticed a NFC East preview story in USA Today projecting the free agent needs of each division team. That story had a throw-away suggestion that Adam, the former Pacman, Jones could be a fit in the Redskins secondary.
USAToday suggests Adam, the former "Pacman," Jones as bargain FA pick-up for Redskins secondary. usatoday.com/story/sports/n…
— Anthony Brown (@SkinsHogHeaven) March 6, 2013
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Here's the actual line:
"Another player who could address multiple areas — nickel corner and returner — from the bargain bin would be Adam "Pacman" Jones. He could caulk a sketchy pass defense that will benefit with the healthy return of outside linebacker Brian Orakpo."
Twitter reaction was swift and mixed.
"RT @skinshogheaven: USAToday suggests Pacman Jones as bargain FA pick-up for #Redskins: usat.ly/Zg5zqy” #No
— KMR (@KMR1202) March 6, 2013
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Don't do it !! @skinshogheaven: USAToday suggests Pacman Jones as bargain FA pick-up for #Redskins: usat.ly/Zg5zqy
— Rahil Shahid (@Rahil_80) March 6, 2013
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@dragonflyjonez @lizzs_lockeroom @skinshogheaven Horrible, horrible idea
— keith (@dajerx) March 6, 2013
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NAH RT @dragonflyjonez No RT @lizzs_lockeroom Thoughts? RT @skinshogheaven USAToday suggests Pacman Jones as bargain FA pick-up
— James (@SJM804) March 6, 2013
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Actually not crazy. RT @skinshogheaven: USAToday suggests Pacman Jones as bargain FA pick-up for #Redskins: usat.ly/Zg5zqy
— BurgundyBlog.com (@BurgundyBlog) March 6, 2013
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@skinshogheaven Why! no way!
— Billy Kilson (@BillyKilson) March 11, 2013
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@burgundyblog @skinshogheaven Watched a ton of Bengals games last year. (They played all the NFCE teams). Pacman really played well.
— Jimmy Kempski (@Jimmy_Beast) March 6, 2013
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Sign him. Cut D Hall RT @lizzs_lockeroom Thoughts? RT @skinshogheaven USAToday suggests Pacman Jones as bargain FA pick-up for #Redskins:”
— Adrian Tweeterson (@MrPryority) March 6, 2013
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@burgundyblog @skinshogheaven he'd be a cheap alternative to keeping Hall. But if you suggest cutting Hall & his high cap#, you're a hater
— Osman (@OBtoojiveforyou) March 6, 2013
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@redskins_jesus @burgundyblog Hasn't been a head case in quite awhile. Not saying 'yes' but that's no reason to say 'no.'
— Anthony Brown (@SkinsHogHeaven) March 7, 2013
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You would think USA Today proposed to add Terrell Owens or Deion Sanders (oh, wait.) to Washington's roster. Is Adam Jones so bad that he should be dismissed out of hand? The Redskins need help in the secondary. What if he's a better fit who would let Jim Haslett call the defense he wants instead of restricting plays to the limits of the secondary?
I don't have the answer to those questions yet. In fact, I don't know that the Bengals won't re-sign Jones if he is healthy, and that's a big "if" after suffering neck and hamstring injuries while with Cincinnati.
But to be dismissive of Jones is to say he is and shall always be Pacman. To paraphrase a cliché, you can take the boy out of the 'hood, but you can't take the 'hood out of the boy.
Jones makes a better case for that than anyone else in football. Yet, there have been no sensational bad boy behavior from Jones since 2008 when he put away his baby name "Pacman" and the persona that went with it.
Teams and NFL Security can get a better sense of Jones' thinking than we can by looking at his associates, or simply by calling Marvin Lewis. As for tainting the locker room, I doubt that Jones would be a bigger factor than Robert Griffin III, or London Fletcher, assuming Fletch is on the 2013 roster. But, every team has a segment of players who rose from the same circumstance as Jones. They would be more comfortable with him in the locker room than middle America would be with him in the living room.
Jones learned something in '08 when he screwed up his second chance in Dallas by assaulting one of the chaperones Jerry Jones hired to keep him on the straight and narrow. Small-market Cincinnati has to find a competitive advantage where it can. Making a home for wild child athletes who can help them win is one of their methods. If they are fairly good at it, it's because they've had lots of practice – more than the Redskins have.
Hog Heaven suspects that Jones, at age 29, will have, for football reasons, a marginal impact on any team. Thus, he would not be an attractive signing. Washington took a chance on Tanard Jackson and were burned. That tells me they would at least look at Jones. The Jackson experience may be enough to turn them off too.
The Redskins still need to fix its secondary. Thoughts about Jones should be based on who he is now and where he's headed, not on where he's been.
"We are not in the business of well-adjusted people." ~ Former New York Giants GM George Young
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