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Cardinals GM Keim optimistic about long-term deal with Jones

Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim remains optimistic about reaching a long-term deal with outside linebacker Chandler Jones ahead of the March 1 deadline.

Jones is slated to become an unrestricted free agent if the two parties can't reach a deal by the end of February, although Keim isn't reticent to place the franchise tag on him.

"We've had a lot of great dialogue,” Keim said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM via ESPN's Josh Weinfuss. "We certainly will place the franchise tag on him if we can’t get a deal done."

Jones recorded 11 sacks in his first season with the Cardinals after being acquired in a trade last March with the New England Patriots.

The outside linebacker figures to be a pillar of the team's defense for years to come, and Keim is unsurprisingly putting a greater emphasis on retaining the team's stars.

"When you find guys who are core players that you want to move forward with, you got to try to be active and aggressive and try to see if you can re-sign them," Keim said.

"We can't have everybody back. Just the way the salary cap is situated, you have to make some tough decisions. You have to make some tough decisions based on what their salary is, their age, their injury history. So many things go into it. That's the tough part of the business. We all know we get emotionally attached to these guys."

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