Brandon Jones, S ($6.6m per year)
Brandon Jones is making $6.6 million per year from the Denver Broncos. He spent the first four years of his career with the Miami Dolphins, starting just 30 of 54 games. Jones doesn't fill up the stat sheet, but he did have five sacks, 79 total tackles, and 10 QB hits in 2021. I'm assuming the Broncos are hoping to get some of that production from Jones in 2024.
Jones can play close to the line of scrimmage, which is a must for defensive backs in Vance Joseph's system. Broncos safety PJ Locke III excelled at this in 2023, so I suppose they hope that Jones can do what Locke did, but a bit more efficiently.
I largely disagree with this signing, as better safeties like Kamren Curl and Jordan Whitehead signed for less than what Brandon Jones got. I hope he proves me wrong, but this is an overpay.
DJ Jones, DT ($10m per year)
DJ Jones signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Denver Broncos before the 2022 NFL Season, and did not play up to that $10 million per year number in 2023. Over the Cap assigns a "Valuation" number to each player based on performance based on the rest of the league, and in 2023, they gave Jones a valuation of just $3.4 million. So effectively, Jones was playing at a level less than half of what we makes, which is not ideal.
In 2024, he'll be in the last year of his deal with the Denver Broncos, and does have some better personnel around him, so perhaps his play could improve. The Broncos signed Malcolm Roach and Angelo Blackson in free agency, and also traded for John Franklin-Myers, so Jones may be able to settle more into his own role as a run stuffer.
This would be the most ideal scenario for DJ Jones and the defensive line, but $10 million per year is just way too much for this player.