Antonio Pierce tells the story of how he persuaded the Raiders to grab Jack Jones off of the waiver wire
The Las Vegas Raiders had one of the biggest steals during the season this year. During the season, the New England Patriots parted ways with cornerback Jack Jones, and the Raiders found a way to pounce on him. This year, he was one of the better players on the defense.The waiver wire has been useful […]
The Las Vegas Raiders had one of the biggest steals during the season this year. During the season, the New England Patriots parted ways with cornerback Jack Jones, and the Raiders found a way to pounce on him. This year, he was one of the better players on the defense.
The waiver wire has been useful to many teams in the league in many ways, but rarely do you find a guy who can be a game-changer on the wire as the Raiders did. They have a guy who won games for the Raiders and made plays you don't see.
But it wasn't easy getting him on the team. Antonio Pierce had to persuade the front office to do it.
"I said, 'Champ [Kelly], he can help us. Oh, I don't know, man, he has a lot of baggage.' I said, 'I know; I have been there for all of it.' Then I went to Mark Davis. So I let it ride for probably a couple of hours, went downstairs, did some more homework, watched some more film, researched a little bit more, and went back upstairs," Pierce said.
"This time, it wasn't about asking; I was pounding on the table. I said I believed in him so much; if we mess this up, get rid of both of us at the end of the season."
The Raiders have a guy who could be a shutdown cornerback with a bit more development. He came in and was instantly better than what Marcus Peters was bringing to the team. Jones had two weeks where he showed he was the best cornerback on the field out of both teams, and it just so happened to be the two games he had a pick-six.
This defense will be in good hands with guys like Jones and Maxx Crosby there. The fact that Pierce was willing to put his career on the line says it all, too.
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