Vikings Cut Candidate Not Only Made the Team But Had a Strong Week 1
Full admission: I had edge rusher Patrick Jones II as a leading Vikings cut candidate (trade candidate, too).
Instead, Minnesota opted to retain the defender so that he could be worked into the pass-rush mix. The decision looks pretty good after a single game. Jones put up a pair of sacks and a pair of tackles for loss against the overwhelmed New York offensive line, thereby contributing to the Week 1 win for Minnesota.
Patrick Jones, The Vikings Cut Candidate, Had a Great Day
Much of the doubt came from what was a modest 2023 season (alongside the fact that he was a draft selection of the previous regime).
Patrick Jones played quite a bit for Minnesota in 2023, getting involved in all seventeen games while starting four. He did so while playing a career-high 635 defensive snaps, more than doubling the amount he put up for Ed Donatell (306) in 2022 when he had 4 sacks.
The issue is that the numbers just weren’t there for the 6’4″, 264-pound edge rusher in 2023. The playing time increased and the stats decreased. His sack total dropped down to just 1 and his TFLs got shaved from 8 to 5.
On PFF, Jones was given a 37.5 grade. The end result was a placement at 112th among … 112 edge rushers. So, not great.
Fast forward into Week 1 of 2024 and Jones is on the team. Not only is he on the team, but he is making his presence felt. The man picked up 4 tackles and 2 sacks. Excellent stats, to be sure.
Drafted at No. 90 in the 2021 NFL Draft, Jones is one of the rare players to still be around from that draft class. Christian Darrisaw is a stud at left tackle and Camryn Bynum is doing his thing at safety. Otherwise, it’s Jones and then no one else.
Kevin O’Connell praised his defensive front during the preseason for being active and disruptive. In Week 1, the Flores Fiends more than lived up to O’Connell’s praise. Jonathan Greenard didn’t get a sack but he generated pressure multiple times. Andrew Van Ginkel was an all star while Dallas Turner got his first official NFL sack.
Add it all together and Brian Flores is going to have a lot to praise when his defense is grinding through the film.
Within that broader excellence, Patrick Jones had some moments where he shined. PFF had his game down at a modest 41.3 grade, but there were some “wow” moments across his 34 snaps on defense.
Keep in mind that he’s the EDGE4/EDGE5, so the expectations need to be adjusted accordingly. The Vikings will be very pleased if their fourth-year defender is making multiple plays behind the line of scrimmage on a per-game basis.
Ahead of his free agency in the 2025 offseason, Jones is commanding just $1,549,576 against the cap.
He will turn 26 at the end of September.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
