It doesn't take long for an NFL contract to go from looking like a wise decision to lock up an up-and-coming contributor before their cost becomes too exorbitant to a colossal mistake that turned into an overpay.
The New England Patriots are toeing that line coming out of Week 10's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after agreeing to a three-year, $36 million extension with 2022 third-round pick Marcus Jones.
After giving up a pair of touchdown receptions to Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London in New England's 24-23 victory, the freshly paid cornerback struggled again on defense and special teams in the Patriots' 28-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10.
Marcus Jones' Extension Looking Suspect After Performance Against TB
What appeared to be a favorable matchup against Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield turned into anything but as Tampa Bay's signal caller finished the day completing 28-of-43 attempts for 273 passing yards and three touchdowns. Mayfield completed passes to six different players, with rookie Emeka Egbuka leading the charge with six catches for 115 yards and a TD, while Jones recorded just four total tackles while missing two attempts for the second time in three games.
For his efforts, Jones received subpar grades across the board from Pro Football Focus. Coming off his worst performance of the 2025 campaign, Jones was slightly better than he fared against the Falcons, but it was still not a showing worth writing home about by any stretch. In 56 total snaps, Jones finished the win with an overall PFF grade of 51.7. His 58.7 grade in pass coverage was tied for his third-worst showing of the season, while his 33.1 rush defense grade and 28.9 tackling grade were new season lows.
Dating back to Week 7, Jones has now given up 11 passes on 13 targets for 103 yards and four TDs in his last four games, only breaking up one pass while picking up another. For comparison, he only allowed 16 catches on 25 targets for 151 yards and one score in the five games before that.
It didn't help that he also struggled on special teams against the Buccaneers, muffing a punt (h/t @_JosephManning) that almost led to a fumble in the third quarter.
To put it bluntly, this isn't the type of play you would expect out of a defender who just agreed to a new deal that will pay him an average annual salary of $12 million. In fact, this is the type of production on the defensive side of the ball that you could likely find from most journeyman free agents.
This is now two consecutive outings where Jones has not only failed to live up to expectations but has, plainly, been bad. The Patriots can't afford to pay players what he is set to earn moving forward if they aren't going to be positive contributors on that side of the ball.
The pressure is on Jones to turn this narrative around as quickly as he possibly can, and there is one way to do that. Get the job done on the field.