The Kansas City Chiefs are among the teams reportedly checking in with some level of interest in free agent wide receiver James Jones. Per ESPN's Josina Anderson, the Chiefs touched base with the veteran wideout a few weeks ago.
WR James Jones told me his agent told him the #Seahawks #Giants & #Chiefs made preliminary inquiries after he was released post draft in May
— Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) June 9, 2015
WR James Jones who led the #Raiders in rec (73) & TDs (6) told me, "I'm not retiring. I still want to play. If you need a WR, come get me"
— Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) June 9, 2015
Despite leading in those categories for the Raiders, Reggie McKenzie decided to overhaul the depth chart at wide receiver with the addition of rookie Amari Cooper and free agent Michael Crabtree. That made Jones, who turned 31 in March, expendable despite being just one year into a 3-year, $10 million contract.
Jeff Spiegel of Silver and Black Pride says the release of Jones makes no sense for the Raiders. He writes:
There are teams in the league who can afford to cut talented players like James Jones, but if Oakland thinks it's one of them, they're mistaken. The Raiders are always looking to add more organizational depth and talent, but by cutting Jones, they moved in the opposite direction.
Jones will latch on somewhere, but for now teams are likely going to let the young guys get their reps in camp knowing it's the best time to see what's already in-house. It might just be a matter of which team feels confident in their personnel evaluations first.
It should also be noted that John Dorsey is already going to be very familiar with Jones from their years together with the Green Bay Packers, so Chiefs fans should be confident in a decision by the general manager either way.
Jones is an eight-year NFL veteran with 383 career catches for 4,971 yards and 43 touchdowns.