Cincinnati Bengals

Adam Jones Felony Charge in Doubt with Settlement

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:07 a.m. ET

Fansided, Ethan Bensman/FanSided via Stripe Hype

On January 2nd, 2017, Bengals’ cornerback Adam Jones was arrested on charges of obstructing official business, disorderly conduct, assault, and felony harassment. Now, it appears his felony charge could be dropped.

When Adam Jones was arrested a few days after New Years, for the first time in a while, fans were seeing shades of 2007.

Among the players with the longest histories of legal trouble in the NFL, Jones was a risky signing for the Bengals back in 2010. But despite his troubled past, he had managed to stay clean for the duration of this six-year stint in Cincinnati. It looked like he might have turned over a new leaf.

But then the allegations came that he spit on a nurse while in jail. And that he was in jail for multiple misdemeanors he had committed earlier in the night.

Bengals fans let out a collective groan. Their team’s constant knock was that their players were undisciplined and out of control. It was a narrative that they were tired of hearing, but one that only got louder with the recent news. Fans want to see the perception of their team changed for the better. To some, that means releasing Adam Jones. Especially if he gets jail time.

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But now, according to WLWT.com, the most major charge against Jones could be dropped. The nurse he allegedly spit on appears to be trying to reach a settlement with the Bengals’ star cornerback, but one that won’t come cheap. Reports are that she aims to get $200,000.

According to Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters via WLWT.com, if a settlement was reached with the nurse, the county would not press charges for the felony. This means the chances of the Bengals star receiving legal punishment of relatively major consequence would be low.

The Skinny

The possibility of the team or league taking action against Jones is still up in the air. Common practice is to wait for the outcome of the trial. But, no trial date has been given. Instead, in the weeks after the case, Deters was quoted saying the trial would wait until after punishment was handed down from the league.

If this sounds strange, that’s because it is. There’s no historical precedent for this order of action. It pushes the whole situation down even further into its own legal quagmire.

Fans will be questioning the future of their star cornerback’s career for a while. The league’s discipline policy is the opposite of clear-cut, and with Jones in rehab and a settlement seemingly on the horizon for at least one charge, it could be training camp before anyone has an answer. Either way, fans could be seeing a lot of William Jackson III this season.