There is little doubt that Maurice Jones-Drew is one of the NFL's best players, let alone running backs. That was only validated by his ranking of 12th best on the NFL Network list of the Top 100 Players of 2012. He's been a dominant force for the Jaguars and most would agree that the Jaguars have had the luxury of having the All-Pro at a price that is lower than his worth.
That's why I take no issue with Jones-Drew holding out from the Jaguars offseason activities. His contract is waning and he wants to make it known that he is a commodity worth paying and ready to be paid.
Mission accomplished. His point has been sent and received. Now there's no reason to miss training camp.
The Jaguars have made it very clear that Jones-Drew isn't going to be getting a new deal this offseason. Via Tania Ganguli:"He has expressed that he would like to renegotiate and we have expressed, again, that we feel he has a contract with two years left and we expect him to fulfill those obligations."
Even Jones-Drew sounded pretty doubtful about the chances of getting a new contract for himself this summer when he spoke with NFL Network on Wednesday evening.
It's pretty clear a deal won't be getting done, so what else is there to hold out for? Gene Smith is going to stick to his guns. Gene knows this, we know this and MJD has to know this too. So the hold out isn't going to accomplish anything now except add a distraction to camp and potentially have negative effects on the play of Jones-Drew during the regular season.
It's over. The goal of making it known that he wants a new contract has been accomplished and the goal of getting a new contract is not going to happen. There's nothing left to be done.