The Giants today welcomed a wide receiver with more career catches, receiving yards and touchdowns than anyone currently on their roster when they signed James Jones.
The nine-year veteran spent the 2014 season with the Oakland Raiders. Jones played his first seven seasons for the Green Bay Packers. Ben McAdoo, beginning his second year as the Giants' offensive coordinator, was a member of the Packers coaching staff for every one of those seasons.
Jones, 6-1 and 200 pounds, has played in 120 regular-season games with 57 starts. His career totals include 383 receptions for 4,971 yards and 43 touchdowns. Victor Cruz leads all current Giants with 264 catches for 3,963 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Jones, 31, has played in all 16 games six times, including 2014, when he started 10 games for the Raiders. He caught a career- and team-high 73 passes for 666 yards and six touchdowns. In 2013, his final season in Green Bay, Jones had a career-best 817 receiving yards on 59 catches, including a career-long 83-yard touchdown. The previous season, Jones led the NFL with 14 touchdown receptions, one more than Denver's Eric Decker.
"I remember the great year he had, and then last year he caught a number of balls, he led the Oakland team," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He's a veteran receiver, outstanding hands, been in this system, knows the system well, should fit in well, and should compete."
The Packers reached the playoffs six times in Jones' seven seasons. He has played in 11 postseason games with four starts and has 28 catches for 410 yards
and four scores.
Jones started Green Bay's Super Bowl XLV victory over Pittsburgh on Feb. 6, 2011 and caught five passes for 50 yards.
When he left Green Bay, Jones was ranked 12th on the franchise's lists for catches and receiving yards, and 11th on the team's touchdown receptions list.
Jones attended San Jose State, where he played in 44 games with 21 starts and caught 126 passes for 1,496 yards (11.2-yard avg.) and 12 touchdowns.
He is a California native who played at Gunderson High School in San Jose.
Photos of WR James Jones during his career the Raiders and Packers.
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WR JAMES JONESBy Dan Salomone
- Originally a third-round draft pick (78th overall) by Green Bay in 2007, wide receiver James Jones played seven seasons with the Packers before joining the Raiders in 2014.
His career numbers include 383 receptions for 4,971 yards (13.0 avg.) and 43 touchdowns in 120 games (57 starts), including a long of 83 yards. Last season in Oakland, Jones set a career high in receptions with 73 and played in all 16 games for the sixth time in eight years.
- The 6-foot-1, 200-pound receiver will be reunited with second-year Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, who was an assistant coach for the Packers from 2006 to 2012. McAdoo coached Green Bay's tight ends for the first six seasons and then the quarterbacks in 2012 and 2013.
- Jones was a key member of the Packers' receiving corps during the team's run to a victory in Super Bowl XLV. Jones had five catches for 50 yards in the big game, including a long of 21 yards and two first downs as Green Bay defeated Pittsburgh, 31-25. Jones has played in 11 postseason games in his career, recording 28 catches for 410 yards and four touchdowns.
- Jones left the Packers ranked 11th on the franchise's all-time touchdown receptions list and 12th in receptions and receiving yards. Jones set a career high in 2013 with 817 receiving yards, and in 2012, he led the NFL in touchdown receptions with 14. Jones has 10 games with 100 receiving yards or more, including a career-high 178 yards against Washington in 2013.
- A native of San Jose, Calif., Jones attended Gunderson High School before playing collegiately at San Jose State, where he caught 126 passes for 1,496 yards (11.2 avg.) and 12 touchdowns. His Love Jones 4 Kids Foundation focuses on the needs of children in the communities of Green Bay and San Jose.
