Jack Jones Rumors: Why IR Move Will Be Costly For Patriots Corner

Jack Jones’ move to injured reserve will have a major impact on the Patriots cornerback’s salary this season.

Jones landed on IR on Saturday after suffering a hamstring injury during Wednesday’s practice. That move ruled him out for at least the first four games of New England’s regular season and, per the terms of his contract, will allow the Patriots to dock nearly half of his pay until he returns, according to a report Sunday from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

“There’s an interesting nuance in Jack Jones’ contract that would say that, whether he was punished or not here, he’s going to feel the brunt of this,” Breer said on NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots pregame coverage. “He has what’s called an injury split in his rookie contract. What does that mean? That means if he starts the season on injured reserve, the Patriots can lower his salary while he’s on injured reserve from $870,000 to $475,000. So, roughly split that salary in half.”

Breer added this clause would not have applied had Jones been on the Patriots’ 53-man roster in Week 1.

“What’s interesting about this is if they had carried him on the roster (Sunday), they couldn’t have done that to him,” Breer said. “He would have been on the roster at $875,000, and he would have been collecting game checks as such as long as he was out, and then obviously coming back in.

“Now, the Patriots can basically dock him $22,000 per week. That means he should lose a minimum of $88,000 being on injured reserve for the four weeks — that’s the minimum — and then will lose another $22,000 a week on top of that for every week he missed beyond the four weeks.”

The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported Jones’ injury could sideline him for more than two months, so his losses likely will total upward of $100,000 — a significant sum for a player on a fourth-round rookie contract. The injury occurred one day after the Massachusetts district attorney dropped all gun charges Jones was facing stemming from his mid-June arrest at Logan Airport.

As for the on-field impact of Jones’ absence, the Patriots will be without one of their top cover men as they face a daunting procession of opposing wideouts to open the season, beginning Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.

New England also has looming matchups with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in Week 2, Garrett Wilson in Week 3, CeeDee Lamb in Week 4, Chris Olave in Week 5, Davante Adams in Week 6, Stefon Diggs in Week 7 and Hill/Waddle again in Week 7.