Most overrated player on every NFL team in the 2022 season
By Randy Gurzi
Las Vegas Raiders: Chandler Jones, EDGE
It’s possible for a player to be really good but also overrated, which just so happens to be the case with Chandler Jones. A 10-year veteran, Jones started his career with the New England Patriots before being traded to the Arizona Cardinals for Jonathan Cooper and a second-round pick.
He then signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract extension following his first season with the Cards and continued to play well. Jones had at least 11 sacks in each of his first four seasons in Arizona, including 17 in 2017.
He then missed all but five games in 2020 only to come back strong and post five sacks in Week 1 of the 2021 season. However, he didn’t have nearly as strong of an impact the rest of the season, playing in 15 total games and recording 35 tackles for 5.5 sacks in that span.
In the offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders elected to bring him in on a three-year, $52.5 million deal that included $34 million guaranteed. That’s an awful lot of money for a 32-year-old pass rusher when they already had Yannick Ngakoue who is five years younger and just posted 10 sacks in his only season with the Raiders.
Once they signed Jones, Ngakoue was sent to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for Rock Ya-Sin. So they not only hardly improved at the position, but they’re being hit with $8 million of dead cap space for Ngakoue in order to have Jones.