Aaron Donald is a Super Bowl champion, one of the game's best defenders sitting atop the football world. It looks like another such player is headed for free agency, with the report that the Arizona Cardinals aren't expected to franchise pass rusher Chandler Jones.
The Cardinals, as noted elsewhere on the site, have a tricky situation with Kyler Murray facing them, and several other key free agents -- running backs, receivers. Jones and the team squabbled over his contract last offseason, and it looks like now he'll get a chance to see what the market thinks he's worth. He just turned 32 years old, but coming off his third Pro Bowl in his last four healthy seasons (he missed 11 games in 2020), it's clear he's got plenty of game left.
Even with that missed time a year ago, Jones has recorded 84 sacks in his last seven seasons -- 12 per year, with double-digits in all but one of those years. The only player with more sacks in that timeframe is Donald (89), and he did it in 12 more games. Only four players have more hits on the quarterback in those years. I've seen Jones connected to the Ravens, but a bidding war with several teams involved wouldn't be surprising.
The search tools at pro-football-reference.com were used in compiling the below table.
NFL SACK LEADERS, 2015-PRESENT | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | G | Sk | Solo | Ast | Comb | TFL | QBHits |
Aaron Donald | 111 | 89.0 | 247 | 146 | 393 | 132 | 213 |
Chandler Jones | 99 | 84.0 | 237 | 69 | 306 | 91 | 149 |
Cameron Jordan | 112 | 78.0 | 264 | 113 | 377 | 106 | 156 |
Khalil Mack | 101 | 72.5 | 293 | 98 | 391 | 87 | 124 |
T.J. Watt | 77 | 72.0 | 216 | 78 | 294 | 80 | 150 |
Von Miller | 94 | 66.5 | 238 | 76 | 314 | 82 | 142 |
Carlos Dunlap | 110 | 60.5 | 216 | 111 | 327 | 72 | 155 |
Danielle Hunter | 85 | 60.5 | 216 | 98 | 314 | 73 | 90 |
Myles Garrett | 68 | 58.5 | 140 | 63 | 203 | 59 | 116 |
Joey Bosa | 79 | 58.0 | 213 | 78 | 291 | 73 | 129 |
Ryan Kerrigan | 108 | 57.5 | 151 | 58 | 209 | 68 | 95 |
Mario Addison | 107 | 57.0 | 145 | 77 | 222 | 58 | 88 |
Everson Griffen | 95 | 56.0 | 177 | 82 | 259 | 62 | 138 |
Robert Quinn | 93 | 56.0 | 145 | 59 | 204 | 55 | 90 |
Yannick Ngakoue | 95 | 55.5 | 145 | 28 | 173 | 57 | 119 |
Frank Clark | 105 | 53.5 | 155 | 69 | 224 | 59 | 118 |
Justin Houston | 90 | 53.5 | 190 | 60 | 250 | 66 | 98 |
Cameron Heyward | 102 | 53.0 | 249 | 148 | 397 | 78 | 117 |
Shaquil Barrett | 107 | 51.5 | 236 | 81 | 317 | 64 | 110 |
Calais Campbell | 107 | 50.0 | 264 | 122 | 386 | 82 | 140 |
Chris Jones | 90 | 49.5 | 138 | 61 | 199 | 48 | 117 |
Jason Pierre-Paul | 90 | 49.5 | 230 | 88 | 318 | 57 | 91 |
Preston Smith | 112 | 49.5 | 197 | 107 | 304 | 56 | 110 |
DeMarcus Lawrence | 96 | 48.5 | 200 | 112 | 312 | 72 | 100 |
Matt Judon | 93 | 47.0 | 205 | 91 | 296 | 68 | 128 |
Fletcher Cox | 109 | 45.5 | 204 | 98 | 302 | 58 | 116 |
DeForest Buckner | 95 | 45.0 | 243 | 146 | 389 | 58 | 118 |
Melvin Ingram | 99 | 45.0 | 225 | 82 | 307 | 64 | 108 |
J.J. Watt | 71 | 45.0 | 177 | 75 | 252 | 74 | 133 |
Markus Golden | 94 | 44.5 | 184 | 91 | 275 | 55 | 110 |
Za'Darius Smith | 91 | 44.5 | 148 | 79 | 227 | 53 | 112 |
Geno Atkins | 88 | 43.5 | 124 | 89 | 213 | 57 | 97 |
Bud Dupree | 92 | 42.5 | 182 | 66 | 248 | 56 | 73 |
Brandon Graham | 97 | 42.0 | 216 | 78 | 294 | 78 | 91 |
Olivier Vernon | 79 | 42.0 | 177 | 77 | 254 | 62 | 119 |
Jadeveon Clowney | 93 | 41.0 | 205 | 80 | 285 | 83 | 105 |
Whitney Mercilus | 91 | 40.0 | 153 | 87 | 240 | 52 | 81 |
Denico Autry | 103 | 39.5 | 157 | 63 | 220 | 57 | 70 |
Michael Bennett | 74 | 39.0 | 131 | 61 | 192 | 75 | 118 |
Leonard Floyd | 87 | 38.5 | 176 | 103 | 279 | 44 | 81 |
Dee Ford | 69 | 38.5 | 113 | 38 | 151 | 43 | 74 |
Vic Beasley | 88 | 37.5 | 122 | 38 | 160 | 37 | 46 |
Cameron Wake | 62 | 37.5 | 79 | 35 | 114 | 28 | 86 |
Emmanuel Ogbah | 83 | 36.0 | 144 | 93 | 237 | 37 | 85 |
Bruce Irvin | 84 | 35.5 | 151 | 69 | 220 | 47 | 85 |
Leonard Williams | 112 | 35.5 | 198 | 206 | 404 | 53 | 145 |
Ezekiel Ansah | 63 | 35.0 | 118 | 37 | 155 | 43 | 81 |
Dante Fowler | 91 | 35.0 | 137 | 63 | 200 | 44 | 59 |
Jones isn't the only free agent on the above list. Donald's current teammate with the Rams, Von Miller, also shows up. The Rams would surely likely to keep him around after trading for him at the deadline, but he'll also have a market. Danielle Hunter will probably be available (huge roster bonus due later this month), and Emmanuel Ogbah is another player headed for free agency. It's a good year to be looking for veteran pass rushers, but the top-shelf guys won't be cheap.
--Andy Richardson