It sounds like Jack Jones' time with the Patriots is probably over

BOSTON -- While Jack Jones will have his day in court, the outlook doesn't look too good for his chances of staying with the New England Patriots.

That's according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe, who was a guest on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich show on Tuesday, ahead of Jones' arraignment in East Boston. There, Jones faces charges of trying to carry loaded guns onto an airplane on Friday.

While a legal resolution for Jones may not be imminent, Howe painted a dire picture for Jones' employment prospects in New England.

"He's in a lot [of trouble]," Howe said. "We'll start with the team. The team is understandably and obviously livid over the situation. Putting himself in a position like this is -- at any time of year, but really after breaking minicamp and all that stuff, it's just ... they're livid. And moving over to the legal side, just from conversations I've had with some friends who are much smarter with that stuff than I am, looking at the charges and kind of breaking down what he's facing. I mean, if he's convicted, he's looking at a mandatory 18-month sentence and there's a likelihood of a two-year enhancement on that 18 months because the weapons were allegedly loaded. So just right off the bat there, it's a strong possibility -- if convicted, he's looking at a minimum of three and a half years."

Leaving aside the legality, Howe pointed to Robert Kraft's increased sensitivity to such matters after dealing with the Aaron Hernandez arrest a decade ago.

"You bring that back over to the team side, everything that Robert Kraft has done since Aaron Hernandez, I would be very, very surprised if [Jones] were a Patriot much longer," Howe said.

Jones arrived with some red flags when the Patriots drafted him, stemming from issues in college which made him available in the fourth round for New England to select. He played well as a rookie, and despite a team-issued suspension to end that season, he looked to have been in line to start at cornerback in year two. But this matter could end all of that swiftly.

"I wouldn't be surprised -- again, if they find out something or understand what the likelihood is that it doesn't look good for him on the legal side -- I can't rule out the fact that they could move on from him as early as this week," Howe said. "I don't know if that's going to be the case. But this is some really, really serious stuff. Understanding the tenor of the frustration at Gillette Stadium over this, just put it all together and reading the writing on the wall, they could move on from him way earlier than the start of the season."

Howe also considered the possibility of the league punishing Jones in some way, and concluded: "The chances of him being in a Patriots uniform in the 2023 season are -- it feels like an extreme long shot."