Nearly 2,400 miles away from his home of Harlem, New York, Elijah Jones signed his rookie contract Wednesday that officially made the Valley home.
The cornerback becomes the eighth rookie in the Cardinals 12-player class to sign their contract. It's a four-year deal, the same length for the other seven signees.
At 6-foot-1, Jones has the knack to make a play on the football. Despite only playing nine games last season, the third-round pick finished first team all-ACC and led the conference with five interceptions.
He'll join the cornerback battle that'll take place during training camp. Sean Murphy-Bunting, second-round pick Max Melton, seventh-rounder Jaden Davis, and players from last year's squad like Kei'Trel Clark, Garrett Williams, and Starling Thomas V will all be vying for roles.
Fortunately for Jones, he said defensive coordinator Nick Rallis' defense is similar to the scheme he played at Boston College.
"It's a pretty smooth (transition) over," Jones said. "Having that simple transition and a lot of overlap, even with certain things schematically that we ran verbatim in college. It's nice to not have a crazy learning curve and I feel like the easier it is to learn things, the faster you could play."
