When safety Reshad Jones reversed course and returned to work after a brief absence from Dolphins offseason workouts, it was reported that the Dolphins told Jones’ agent that talks on a new contract would begin “eventually” if Jones kept showing up for work.
Eventually can mean a lot of things and, in this case, it did not mean before the end of June. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that talks have yet to begin between the Dolphins and Jones, who is headed into the final year of his contract. As Jackson points out, the Dolphins have a good amount of cap space under the 2014 cap although they have several players on expiring deals.
One imagines Jones is at or near the top of that list. He’s coming off a very strong season and the 2010 fifth-rounder is going to be a key player for the Fins again next season. The team has the franchise tag at its disposal, which will likely be a good thing if they can’t strike a long-term deal because Jones would have plenty of suitors around the league.
There doesn’t figure to be another absence from Jones come camp as he’s subject to fines he wasn’t in danger of receiving during the spring, which limits his leverage to turning in another excellent season on the field.