MKRob Sports

Yesterday Tennessee Titans beat writer Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean announced that the Nashville-based franchise offered former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Matt Jones a contract. The deal was believed to be worth around $700,000. However, the reporter also mentioned that he, “heard he’s (Jones) leaning toward signing with the Bengals.”

Then last night, Bengals beat reporter Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer Bengals have also offered Jones a deal. confirmed that the

That was all followed by a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Bengals worked out former Titans and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones yesterday (Thursday, Feb. 11).

Out of the two, Matt Jones figures to be the most likely to sign.

The Bengals are need of a tall, play-making receiver and Jones fits that mold (despite the fact he hasn’t caught a pass over 50 yards in his career). However, the red flag on Jones is that he violated the league’s substance abuse policy after being arrested July 2008 when he was found, “in his former college town…inside a car cutting up cocaine with a credit card.”

Jones was trying to come back in 2009, after missing the final three games in 2008 because of the cocaine arrest, before he was arrested again last March after failing a drug test on condition of his probation (the test showed alcohol in his system).

Jones didn’t play last season and struggled to live up to his first-round status in his previous four seasons in the league. However, he is relatively young (will be 27 on April 22), very tall (6-foot-6) and fast (4.37 and 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine). He was also a star quarterback at Arkansas, so he is very versatile.

The deal is expected to be worth slightly above the league minimum, very similar to the deal the Titans have already offered.

Pacman Jones would give the Bengals an excellent (if he stays out of trouble) third cornerback (and possibly a great punt returner) to play the nickel and to backup stars Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall. The dropoff from Joseph and Hall to current cornerbacks on the roster – Morgan Trent, Keiwan Ratliff and Rico Murray – is tremendous.

However, there is a price. Pacman could possibly the most troubled player in the NFL during commissioner Roger Goodell’s tenure. Jones is most known for being in the middle of a fight and a shooting at a strip club in Las Vegas. There, he was accused of “beating strippers’ heads against the bar while saying that he was going to kill one of the employees.” He has also been accused of punching and spitting women in the face at nightclubs and/or strip clubs.

According to Schefter, “Jones has avoided trouble since his last brush with the law in Oct. 2008.” Which according to Bleacher Report, was when Jones got drunk and started a fight with bodyguards that were assigned to protect him.

Unfortunately, both players have huge question marks and red flags.

Personally, I don’t feel like signing Matt Jones at the league minimum is a bad move. The whole idea of signing Pacman is a little scary.