After a long offseason, the New England Patriots finally were able to sign second-round pick Gabe Jacas, and he appears to be getting on track. That comes after injuries derailed contract negotiations, including the need for a surprise knee surgery.
Ben Volin of The Boston Globe recently spoke to Dr. David Chao, who was previously the head physician for the Los Angeles Chargers. After the injury slipped under the radar, with multiple teams outside the Patriots admitting they didn’t know about it, Chao warned that this type of injury would have massively hurt Jacas’ draft stock.
“Yes, it’s a big deal,” Dr. David Chao said. “If you said a kid has a large osteochondral lesion, I would be downgrading his draft grade score, and sight unseen, warning general managers that this guy might not have a long NFL career.”
That doesn’t mean that the Patriots should not have drafted Jacas. However, it does mean the second round could turn out to be a reach in the long run. A degenerative knee issue, simply put, is going to be hard to have a long career with.
“It’s not a ‘don’t touch,’ but it’s a ‘stop and consider.’ If you took an over-under on him, it would be a victory if he made it to a second contract,” Chao said.
In the end, the Patriots negotiated with Jacas over a “large osteochondral defect” in his left knee. They eventually were able to add an injury waiver into his rookie contract, which would allow the Patriots to void guarantees in his contract if he reinjures that left knee in the next three seasons.
New England Patriots Rookie Gabe Jacas Has an Injury Connection With Jadeveon Clowney
GettyNew England Patriots draft pick Gabe Jacas
In 2014, Jadeveon Clowney became the No. 1 overall pick as an edge rusher. He’s also gone on to have a long career, which has included three Pro Bowl selections. That’s despite having a similar degenerative knee issue to Jacas.
Notably, however, he’s struggled to stick with any one team for an extended period of time. After his time with the Houston Texans ended in 2018, Clowney has had six different stops. At only one of them did he spend more than one consecutive season with the same team. In other words, nobody wants to give him and his knee issue a long-term deal.
“He has outperformed our expectations with microfracture surgery, and he’s had a very good career,” Chao said of Clowney. “But he has never gotten a long-term contract because of that lesion. It’s always been one-year deals.”
Jacas is now looking at a similar path to Clowney. He can find success, including with the Patriots. It’s just going to be hard to ever get over the stigma his knee issues come with.
Gabe Jacas is Confident in His Health at Patriots Training Camp
GettyFormer Illinois edge rusher Gabe Jacas.
Given the knee issue that Gabe Jacas is dealing with, it’s no surprise his health was a topic of conversation as soon as he got to Patriots Training Camp. Luckily, he was able to share a very positive update recently.
“I’m 100 percent,” Jacas said.
The Patriots are going to need Jacas to stay as healthy as possible. Pass rush was a point of weakness for them last season, and the hope was that he’d be able to be a spark there as a rookie. Having missed part of the offseason and being at injury risk, that’s now much more questionable.
Patriots Warned by Former NFL Physician on Gabe Jacas Knee Injury, Draft Stock