What will happen with Denver Broncos DL Dre’Mont Jones?
The Denver Broncos don’t have too many big-name free agents-to-be in the upcoming free agent period but one of the few who are considered a big name is defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones. Jones could cash in this offseason after a 24-tackle, 6.5 sacks, and one forced fumble season.
Jones led the Broncos in the sack category this past season.
If the Broncos can’t get a long-term deal done with Jones, another option is to slap the franchise tag on him. However, that proves to be very costly at the defensive line position this year.
If the Broncos want to franchise tag Dre'Mont Jones, it will cost them $19.727M for this season.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) January 30, 2023
Currently, the Denver Broncos have under $12 million in cap space, so the franchise tag is not an option at this time. However, with some extra contract configurations, it’s possible that something can be done to keep him around.
At the end of the day, a new contract would be much more ideal than the 1-year, $19.727 million contract.
The sack totals aren’t as high as some of the better defensive linemen in the NFL such as Fletcher Cox and Aaron Donald, but here’s another stat for you. It’s something that doesn’t appear on the stat sheet after a game, but rather produced by places such as Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
There some talk out there that @TheOfficial_80 (Dre’Mont Jones) had 6 sacks and they were against bad teams. Sacks are great and all, but if you’re just looking at that metric, you’re not getting the whole story. Dude is a stud. Stop playin. Pay the man pic.twitter.com/VWISxQ202l
— 🄱🄾🄶🄶🄸🄽🅂 (@Mr_Boggins) February 7, 2023
Being in the top-10 in terms of quarterback hurries is huge especially when you’re in a division with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. Those guys are young and (unfortunately) up-and-comers. That’s one of the biggest reasons to keep Jones around for as long as possible. When you provide the pressure against someone like Mahomes, you have a much better chance at succeeding.
I really don’t think that free agents the Denver Broncos would bring in to replace Jones would produce nearly as well as he has. One of the Saints’ free agents in 2023 will be defensive lineman Shy Tuttle. He could be a name Sean Payton considers but the needle moves drastically in the wrong direction if that move is made.
The Broncos are surely going to draft a defensive lineman or two in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft. The big question is, when in that process will it happen? They could find a gem in the final rounds but could also find one in the middle rounds. Either way, it wouldn’t surprise me if it takes some time to develop whoever they choose.
Jones should be re-signed but it could be at the expense of losing someone who is also important later down the road. Is it worth it? Maybe. It depends on who the player(s) is/are that they end up letting hit free agency at a later date.