The New England Patriots had a busy day Tuesday. Before making a pair of trades to send Keion White and Kyle Dugger to San Francisco and Pittsburgh, respectively, they also reached a contract extension
with one of their team captains: cornerback Marcus Jones received a three-year, $36million extension through 2028.
Let’s assess what the move means for the team.
Smart business
Marcus Jones’ first three seasons after joining the Patriots as a third-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft were solid. He was a part-time starter on defense and the team’s punt returner, showing a knack or making big plays on defense, special teams and even offense on occasion.
While his offensive contributions have been nonexistent so far in 2025, Jones has managed to take his game to another level. Besides remaining one of the most electric return men in football — he leads the league in average yards per punt return (21.6) and punt return touchdowns (1) — he also has played like a top 3 slot cornerback, and has already matched his single-season career high with two interceptions.
Needless to say, the arrow keeps pointing up for the 27-year-old. This in combination with his contract situation before the extension made locking him up a smart move from the Patriots’ perspective, that ensures long-term stability on defense and special teams as well as in the captains’ room.
Top free agent off the market
Upon arriving in New England, Jones signed a standard four-year rookie contract that was set to run trough the 2025 season. This, in turn, would have made him an unrestricted free agent next spring — and a player who was likely to draw quite a bit of interest had he made it to the open market.
That will no longer happen, meaning that the Patriots have one fewer free agent to worry about. In fact, only six UFAs remain with him off the list: tight end Austin Hooper, offensive linemen Vederian Lowe and Yasir Durant, defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga, outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson, and safety Jaylinn Hawkins.
Considering that the Patriots once again project to be among the league leaders in salary cap space in 2026, they should be in a position to be competitive for all their services. Simultaneously, they will be keeping the financial flexibility to make other moves such as signing cornerback Christian Gonzalez to an extension as well.
High-end deal
While the full details of Jones’ three-year extension are not yet known, the base numbers — three years, $36 million — allow us to compare to other cornerbacks. His contract’s annual average value of $12 million is ranked 25th highest among all CBs in the NFL right now. When looking strictly at slot defenders, however, we can see that he is closer to the top.
While not quite reaching the likes of Kyler Gordon ($13.3M) or Jalen Pitre ($13M) in terms of AAV, he is ahead of other prominent slots like Taron Johnson ($10.25M), Kenny Moore ($10M) or Jourdan Lewis ($10M). This goest to show how important the Patriots think Jones is to their operation.
2022 draft class lives
Even though it showed some potential early, the Patriots’ 2022 draft class can be labeled a major disappointment almost four years later. Of the 10 players selected by the team that year, only one remains: Jones, who has now been awarded an extension to remain in New England for the foreseeable future.
While he was a definitive hit as the 85th overall selection in the third round, the other picks flamed out for a variety of reasons ranging from injury woes (Cole Strange) to developmental issues (Tyquan Jones) to off-field concerns (Jack Jones). Jones has largely managed to avoid any such issues over his first three and a half NFL seasons — the exception being a season-ending shoulder injury in 2023 — which put him in a position to outlast his fellow 2022 draft picks.
Of course, while he hold the group’s flag high, he is not the only 2022 rookie making an impact on the Patriots tot his day. Undrafted free agent Brenden Schooler was actually the first member of the group receive an extension when he signed a three-year, $9 million pact last October. The special teams ace was named first-team All-Pro three months later.
Jones also has one All-Pro designation to his name — as punt returner in 2022 — and now can call a new deal his own as well.
