After a tumultuous ending to his season, and maybe his New England Revolution career, Jermaine Jones knows there is plenty to ponder this offseason.
The biggest question? What club he will call home next season.
With the desire to play through the 2018 FIFA World Cup and his contract with the Revolution coming to a close, Jones continued this week to express his desire for some long-term stability, for his family's sake.
“We don’t want to go a year or one-and-a-half years,” Jones told the media. “I was a long time now away from my family, and family is really important for me, and I want to try and take them with me. If we have a longer deal, the kids can come and go in school in that area where you play.”
In the year and a half he was with New England, Jones endeared himself to the region and grew close with the team as he became a top leader on and off the field.
His Los Angeles-based family enjoyed the club, but they are all aware that does not always lead to a desired contract, so all offers will be carefully weighed by the entire Jones clan.
“I already said, my family and me, we feel home here; it’s a nice place,” said the veteran central midfielder, who turned 34 on Tuesday. “I like the team, I like the club. But, soccer and sports, it’s always you don’t stay there where you like the people. I have some offers, not only from MLS, so we will go into that with the family and then decide.”
He also added that offers exist from both European and Brazilian clubs, but that he currently is not leaning toward any specific destination.
“MLS, I always say I like it,” said Jones who scored three goals and had six assists for the Revs in 34 total MLS games, including the playoffs, across his more than 14 months with the Revolution. “I think the soccer is coming and getting better and better. But I think in Europe you have some nice leagues too.”
Unfortunately, for as influential as he was was in New England's run to the 2014 MLS Cup final, the lasting impression of Jones in a Revs uniform might be the midfielder’s blowup in their Knockout Round loss to D.C. United. Jones charged referee Mark Geiger, was issued a second yellow card and made contact with Geiger while continuing to argue.
While it has been speculated that a hefty suspension may follow Jones into next season and possibly affect his time with the US men's national team, he is more concerned with getting ready for upcoming World Cup qualifying matches, though he did admit his reaction crossed a line.
“The reaction from me was a little bit over,” said Jones. “Knowing me, that I don’t do it like on purpose or that was not my plan to do it, but in that moment, I was 100 percent sure it was a penalty.”
As he departed for the west coast, unsure if he would return to the home locker room at Gillette Stadium, Jones was eager to get back to his family and enjoy time with his wife and their five children.
Yet knowing that he may have played his last game in a Revs jersey, he was quick to impart his thoughts on his first, and currently only, MLS club.
“The whole time, I got up and downs,” said Jones of his time in New England. “I came, and we got that run and came to the cup final with a young team. I got the injury, I came back. I felt like really home. … The whole package with the Kraft family, then my whole team here, with my coaches and stuff, I would say it’s a big family. You will miss the boys, you will miss the training. I have now my other boys I have to train and I have to do some stuff with.”
