North Carolina Tar Heels: Nazair Jones to Seahawks at 102
The North Carolina Tar Heels heard the name of their second player taken in the draft late in the third round.
The North Carolina Tar Heels did not have to wait long to hear their first guy go in the NFL Draft. That was Mitch Trubisky at number two. Then came a little bit of a lapse before we got toward the end of the third round. A Pirate and a Wolfpacker were drafted in the meantime, but the Tar Heels were heard from again at pick number 102 of the third round when the Seattle Seahawks drafted defensive tackle Nazair Jones.
The Seahawks are known for having one of the NFL’s best defenses. They won a Super Bowl and lost another just a couple of years ago. The dark side of Seattle was they were living on borrowed salary cap. Good draftees and good cheap free agent acquisitions got very good in Seattle and they each needed to be paid, one by one.
The Seahawks paid them too until the magic cap room they had been playing with ran out. That magic cap room was the contract of third round pick Russell Wilson. The Seahawks were paying their starting quarterback peanuts and they handed out the savings to key defensive pieces and Marshawn Lynch. Once Wilson had to be paid like an elite quarterback, the Seahawks had to sacrifice their defensive depth. They have been bleeding free agents over the last two cycles even as players like Michael Bennett asked for more money.
The Seahawks still depend on a core of defenders like Earl Thomas, Cam Chancellor, Bennett, Bobby Wagner, and Richard Sherman but they are trying to rebuild the depth around them through the draft. So enter Nazair Jones. Enter second round pick defensive tackle Malik McDowell. UCF Corner Shaquill Griffin fits this idea too as does Michigan safety Delano Hill.
Next: Trubisky Taken at Number Two by Bears
This should be encouraging for Jones. He gets to part of a good team trying to stay good. They will be looking for money-saving alternatives and if their third defensive tackle turns into a world beater that is just fine with them. As it would be with Jones, who at one time could not move and now gets to hob-nob with the twelfth man.