(01-13-2019, 07:02 PM)navyjagfan Wrote: There are numerous reports on Malik Jackson that he was outright benched this season for Abry Jones; he didn't just lose snaps in the rotation for the young players.  And the defense did improve after Jackson was benched if that says anything.

His salary for a DT is top 7 in the NFL.  He's not making much less than JJ Watt and I doubt anyone on here would argue that Malik Jackson is anywhere near the caliber player that JJ Watt is.  Sure, it would be great if there was a trade market for Malik Jackson, but what team is going to give up precious draft picks for a DT scheduled to make $15M next year?

The reality is the 2019 NFL Draft is absolutely loaded with D-linemen this year, so why would any team looking for D-line help  not spend a mid-round pick on a cheap rookie contract rather than overpay for someone like Jackson?

So - what you are talking about was Jones getting the start starting in week 11 because they liked him better against the run where Jackson was having a bad go of it. 

Here's what actually happened in the snap counts:

week 11:  Jones - 42  Jackson 33 - Bryan  -26
week 12:  Jones - 37 - Jackson 37 - Bryan - 30
week 13:  Jackson - 42 -Bryan 29 - Jones - 20
week 14:  Bryan - 37 - Jackson 36 - Jones - 0 (injured shin)
week 15:  Jones - 41 - Bryan 27 - Jackson 27
week 16:  Jones - 36 - Bryan 16 - Jackson - 11
week 17:  Jones 54 - Bryan 37  - Jackson 26

You can call that "being benched" if that's what it says to you. I just don't really see that. 
There are three weeks there when he played fewer than 30 snaps and  those are the weeks that Marrone stated they were trying to get a better look at Bryan playing 3tech. (team was out of playoff contention)

His rotation numbers took a hit because he was struggling against the run and then he took another hit when they wanted to see more from the rook.

I have no idea what another team would or wouldn't trade for him - but now that I've seen his contract details - the Jags can just cut him post 6/1 and save themselves 13 mil. 
So that's probably what happens - and since other teams know that - they'll probably wait and try to sign him off the street cheaper than his deal. That's my guess anyway.

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