Patriots Trade DE Jones To Cardinals For Guard, 2nd Round Pick

The New England Patriots have traded defensive standout Chandler Jones to the Arizona Cardinals, in a surprising moved.

The deal was confirmed by ESPN's Adam Schefter just before 3:00 p.m., Tuesday.

Since entering the league as a first round pick out of Syracuse for the Patriots, Jones has 36 sacks and 125 solo tackles in 55 regular season games. He will most certainly added great depth to an already sound defensive unit in Arizona.

In exchange for the defensive end, the Pats received guard Jonathan Cooper and a second round pick in this year's draft.

Cooper, who was drafted seventh overall by the Cardinals in the 2013 NFL draft, looks to slot in nicely along the Patriots' offensive line which struggled mightily last season and inevitably led to their downfall in the AFC Championship game.

The second round pick now gives New England its second for this year's draft, which could help to balance out the fact that the team is still without it's top pick as a result of Deflategate penalties. The team could try to package one of their two second rounders to get back into the first round or stay where they are and still find valuable players who can come in and fill voids on the roster.

With Jones nearing free agency and his asking price seemingly climbing after a solid year on the field, it makes sense that the stingy Patriots took the opportunity to flip him for an upgrade along the offensive line and a pick. If they weren't going to pay him in the future, they might as well have gotten value out of him now.