Sunday was difficult for Vi Jones.
He was depressed. The linebacker woke up Saturday and gone into work ready for his walkthrough with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and preparing to suit up the next day against the Panthers. But he was pulled aside and told he was being released. The team, he was told, hoped to bring him back to the practice squad.
Jones had to clear waivers first, so as the NFL weekend played out, he was left to mull his future. "I was thinking, 'Damn, what did I do?'" he said.
Whether he did anything was moot, because it quickly became "a dream come true."
On Monday, his agent called him to say the Cardinals had claimed him off waivers. Having a 53-man roster job was important enough. But to go to a team that had his older brother, Zay Jones, on that roster?
"I texted him in all caps, 'BRO,'" Vi said.
"I was ecstatic," Zay said.
With a game left in the regular season, the Jones brothers are teammates. Whether that has long-term impact is to be determined – Vi is under contract in 2025, but Zay is not – but the two will cherish whatever time they have.
"I had the opportunity to play with my older brother (Cayleb) in high school," Zay said. "I haven't had that with Levi. I feel a great sense of responsibility as an older brother, as any older sibling would toward their family, to make sure he's OK. It was surreal driving into work together. It felt like we were going to school."
Zay is three years older than Vi. (Vi's full name is Levi, just as Zay's full name is Isaiah. Both go by nicknames professionally although Zay said what they use in conversation "depends on our mood.") Zay has established himself since 2017 as a notable receiver; Vi, came into the league in 2022 as an undrafted rookie with Seattle and spent most of this season on the Buccaneers' practice squad.
"I can't wait to go against him in practice, suit up together, take the field together," Vi said.
As soon as the news happened, the Jones family sprang into action. Their father, former NFL linebacker Robert Jones, let them know the family was booking plane tickets to come to the 49ers game. Their sisters couldn't believe the turn of events.
Whether Vi actually plays Sunday is an unknown, although it wouldn't be a surprise for him to sit and his arrival to be more of a nod toward building the 2025 roster. Zay has played steady snaps this season although he only has four receptions for 38 yards.
But again, those are details that don't mean as much as the fact they get to be teammates.
"The NFL is such a revolving door and business," Zay said. "The hard reality is that sometimes there are changes and sudden changes and difficult changes. I never would've thought. This isn't something that came through my mind. When it happened, it was almost like you can't really believe it.
"It turned a sadness, being let go from a team, and how it turned into something phenomenal and awesome that our family can treasure and remember."
Can it be long-term? Zay smiled at the prospect, saying it would be "amazing" to remain with a team on the rise like the Cardinals.
"I would be grateful if it were to work out if both of us could be here to help this football team win games," Zay said.
Vi smiled at the possibility of trying to recruit his brother to stay.
"He for sure is coming back," he said. "We've got to make this work. The Cardinals need them Jones Boys."
PFWA AWARDS GIVEN
The Arizona chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America handed out their annual awards on Thursday. Safety Budda Baker and running back James Conner were named the Lloyd Herberg co-MVPs for their play this season, while wide receiver Michael Wilson was presented the Steve Schoenfeld Good Guy award, for his cooperation and insight in dealing with the media.
The awards are named for two former Cardinals/NFL writers for the Arizona Republic. Herberg was the newspaper's original beat writer when the team moved to Arizona in 1988 before he passed away with cancer. Schoenfeld covered the team and the league for both the paper and then cbssports.com before being killed in a hit-and-run accident in 2000.
