After the Denver Broncos moved on from Russell Wilson in the 2024 offseason, they got rid of what was easily the worst contract in franchise history. And in 2025, they are still on the hook for $35 million in dead cap from the Russell Wilson deal, but that's no longer the worst contract on the roster.
Actually, the good news for the Broncos is that it's pretty tough to find a "bad" contract on the books. The Broncos don't have any ugly contracts right now, but they do have some that at least make you think.
We had to dig for reasons not to like this one, but when you look at the rest of the contracts the Broncos have handed out, this one seems to be the clear winner for "worst" on the team.
DJ Jones has worst contract on Broncos salary cap in 2025
Defensive tackle DJ Jones signed a three-year deal worth $39 million this offseason, a deal that honestly shocked most of Broncos Country. It was widely assumed that Jones would bolt in free agency, but the Broncos gave him a hefty deal worth $13 million per season and a whopping $26 million in guaranteed money.
The Broncos are paying Jones to make an impact beyond just the stat sheet, because he played just 40.26 percent of the team's defensive snaps last year and has just five total sacks and nine tackles for loss in his three seasons as a member of the Broncos. He had one sack and one tackle for loss in his snaps last season.
Jones is really good at his job, but fans will understandably wonder how a guy with just one sack was able to get a contract worth $26 million in guaranteed money.
Jones played at least 54 percent of the team's snaps in his first two years in Denver, but that number dipped significantly in 2025. Despite playing all 17 games, he played 100 fewer snaps than the previous couple of seasons.
For a player to play less than 50 percent of the team's snaps and get an eight-figure average annual salary feels pretty rare. For a player to play just around 40 percent of the team's snaps on either side of the ball and get a $26 million guarantee feels borderline unprecedented.
You would obviously love to see more plays being made in the backfield for that kind of price, but Jones is productive in other ways. It's probably fair to call this the "worst" contract on the team even though Jones brings plenty of value.