The Las Vegas Raiders have been dealing with a lot of changes throughout the organization over the last few years. One player who is entering his second season and expected to dominate is defensive end Chandler Jones. It appears that Jones is frustrated with the Raiders organization to the point he posted on his Instagram about wanting out.
Chandler Jones going off on his IGS about not being able to get into the Raiders' gym pic.twitter.com/As0hbV2hUc
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 5, 2023
One quote he wrote on his Instagram story is, “I don’t wanna play for the Raiders if that’s my HC or GM…”
This is a developing story, as it appears that Jones was unable to get access to the Raiders gym and had to work out at a local gym instead. The team apparently also contacted his ex-girlfriend, who has not been with Jones for five years.
This is something that could snowball into a trade demand if Jones is as unhappy with the Las Vegas Raiders as it appears. Jones signed a 3-year, $51 million contract before the 2022 season and has a potential out after this season and can become a free agent once again at 34 years old.
What is going on with the Las Vegas Raiders?
The Las Vegas Raiders are trying to compete for a playoff spot in a tough AFC West division. On a defensive line with Maxx Crosby last season, Jones struggled a bit with just 4.5 sacks over the course of 15 games.
However, it seems the Raiders organization is dealing with a lot of turmoil inside of franchise. The team has been struggling to keep senior executives in place while also having star players come and go throughout the organization. That is on top of having the entire Jon Gruden scandal happen while he was coaching the team.
The franchise seems to be having many issues on multiple fronts, and that has been a major cause for concern for people in the NFL. They have to clean up some issues in the front office and have that trickle down to the coaches and players.
This is more than an isolated incident of a player being unhappy with an organization, and having him not play due to frustrations would be a black mark on the franchise. At this point, Raiders General Manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels may need to sit down and figure out how to correct course here.
This is not the first incident of a player being unhappy with the Raiders, and while it may look appealing on the outside, word of organization incompetence quickly will come out.
What will Chandler Jones do next?
As a respected veteran in the NFL, Chandler Jones’ voice has an impact. He has played for the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals throughout the last decade and done well, but this could be the tipping point. Jones has a few things he can do, and the most simple would be to hold out until he is traded.
This would make sense as he publicly blasted McDaniels and Ziegler on his Instagram, and that could be a burned bridge. The Raiders would likely get a decent draft pick for the 33-year-old defensive end from a team looking to sure up the trenches.
If that is not reached, the holdout can happen until Week 8 of the season, as that is the point where he would need to report to get a full season service time and get to free agency. It is almost certain he would opt out of his contract and forego his $16 million base salary for 2024 but getting traded would be the better option for him.
Jones has a $20.7 million cap hit next season and a $12.6 million dead cap number. That is not insignificant, and it will be interesting to see the next steps for the veteran pass-rusher before the Week 1 game against the Denver Broncos.