Cardinals trade Jonathan Cooper, pick for Chandler Jones

The Arizona Cardinals have pulled off a blockbuster trade, and in doing so have landed the pass rusher they so coveted.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report that the Cardinals had acquired Chandler Jones from the New England Patriots in exchange for lineman Jonathan Cooper and a second-round pick (No. 61 overall in 2016), and the Cardinals have since confirmed the deal.

Jones, 26, notched 12.5 sacks last season and has 36 over the first four seasons of his career, all of which have been spent with the Patriots. The defensive end has also tallied 211 total tackles, 10 forced fumbles and one interception.

According to Sportrac, which lists player salaries, Jones is set to make $7.79 million in 2016, which is the last season of his contract.

The 21st overall pick in the 2012 draft out of Syracuse, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound Jones was a Pro Bowler in 2015.

The Cardinals made upgrading their pass rush a priority this offseason after struggling to bring down the quarterback last season. Arizona’s 36 overall sacks were tied for 20th in the NFL, and their issues in that are were highlighted in an NFC Championship Game loss to the Carolina Panthers. They had reportedly attempted to sign free agents Jason Pierre-Paul and Bruce Irvin, but were unable to convince either to head to the desert.

So, the Cardinals went a different route, making a trade for the player who had the fifth-most sacks in the NFL last season.

#Birdgang what up??

— ♛Chandler Jones (@chanjones55) March 15, 2016

As for Cooper, the seventh overall pick in the 2013 draft was never able to find his footing in Arizona. A promising start to his rookie campaign was derailed by a broken leg suffered in the preseason, and since then he was never quite able to get back to the level that convinced the Cardinals to choose him out of North Carolina.

He appeared in 24 games as a Cardinal with 11 starts.

There was speculation earlier this offseason that the Cardinals would experiment with moving Cooper, a guard, to center. In discussing the offensive line, which is set to have a different look in 2016, Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin talked about how Cooper was regaining the confidence he had as a rookie.

“He understands there’s a lot of pressure on him this year and he looks forward to the challenge,” he said.

Incidentally, this move had everything to do with pressure.

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