It’s not been a great season in Jacksonville for Marvin Jones, but he did reach a noted contract incentive during Sunday’s season finale.
Over five seasons with the Detroit Lions, Marvin Jones stood as one of the more underrated wide receivers in the NFL. He also probably thought he knew what toxic dysfunction was during Matt Patricia’s tenure as head coach, until he signed a free agent deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars last offseason and experienced Urban Meyer this season.
Heading toward regular season finales, storylines about contract incentives players can reach get out there. Sunday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter unveiled one that looked to be within reach for Jones.
Jaguars’ WR Marvin Jones needs four catches Sunday vs. Indianapolis to reach 70 this season and earn a $500,000 incentive.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2022
Jones needed four catches during Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts to get to 70 on the season and get a $500,000 incentive. Even in fairly down campaign it seemed entirely reasonable to get to, even knowing he had just two catches in the first matchup against Indianapolis.
Jaguars’ WR Marvin Jones, Jr. already is up to four catches today, giving him 70 on the season and earning him a $500K incentive.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2022
Jones not only got to the four catches he needed pretty quickly on Sunday, he later scored his first touchdown since Week 6 against the Miami Dolphins as the Jaguars beat the Colts decisively. Jones had nine touchdowns in three of his five seasons as a Lion, so he’s no stranger to the end zone. But check out this catch and toe-drag on the back edge of the end zone.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1480271328942854145?s=20
Jones finished the game with seven receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown, giving him 73 receptions for 832 yards and four scores (on 120 targets) for the season. He fell just shy of his career-high for catches, set last year with the Lions (76).
Jones signed a two-year, $12.5 million deal with Jacksonville last March, but it’s worth wondering if a contending team or two will consider making an offseason trade offer for a well-respected, solidly productive veteran receiver. It’s not necessarily very likely, but the Lions could consider bringing him back into the fold as they look to bolster and round out their wide receiver depth chart.