Former Broncos star burning bridge, acting bitter on Twitter
The Denver Broncos made the tough decision this offseason not only to let Dre'Mont Jones walk in free agency, but to pass on franchise tagging him. The decision to just let him walk was undoubtedly unpopular at the time, and was met with plenty of pushback from the fan base. Why? Because Dre'Mont Jones had been one of the team's best defensive players the last four years.
It was assumed that the Broncos traded away Bradley Chubb with the intention of at least allocating some of that money into Dre'Mont Jones, but it also became abundantly clear as last season progressed that Dre'Mont didn't want to be in Denver. Just think, for a moment, about the fact that the Broncos let a player of his caliber hit the open market. There is no indication that they tried to trade him last season. They actually wouldn't let the Seahawks have him in last year's Russell Wilson trade.
The Broncos may not have made Jones any really lucrative offers, but their signing of Zach Allen in free agency at nearly the same price Dre'Mont Jones signed in Seattle for is pretty telling. As in, the Broncos were willing to spend, but after talking with Jones, the two sides decided to simply part ways. It's just rare that you see players of that caliber leave without much contest from the team they were previously employed by unless that team is rebuilding or in a salary cap bind.
It seems to me, and many others, like Jones simply didn't want to be in Denver anymore. And if you look at his Twitter page these days, it's become abundantly clear that he's bitter or holding at least somewhat of a grudge. After the Denver Nuggets won the NBA Finals on Monday night, Jones retweeted a post from "NFL Memes" on Twitter which was making fun of Broncos QB Russell Wilson, who was apparently ignored by Nuggets star Jamal Murray as he left the court.
What does Dre'Mont Jones gain from retweeting this? It's just a bad look for him because the post from NFL Memes is already in bad taste as it is.
It's clear the Denver Broncos are living rent free in Dre'Mont Jones's head.
Back in May, Dre'Mont retweeted this post as well:
More posts Dre'Mont Jones has retweeted on his Twitter page include:
And then there was this when Dre'Mont met the media in Seattle:
It's really a shame to see this kind of behavior on Twitter from Jones. It's been consistent and the examples given are just from May into June. It's clear that Jones is bitter, he's clinging to that bitterness, and he's deliberately burning a bridge on the internet between himself and the Denver Broncos fan base. Not that Jones has to care about that anymore, he's not a Bronco -- he's a Seahawk.
It's really only a big deal because Broncos fans spent the majority of the last four years singing Dre'Mont's praises. Fans went out of their way to post clips of him doing excellent work in games that ended up creating a ton of hype for him among the rest of the fan base. Fans clamored for the Broncos to re-sign Jones and give him the extension he deserved for his outstanding on-field play up until the day he ultimately signed with Seattle.
All fans in Denver did was embrace Dre'Mont Jones, celebrating his individual successes and applauding his effort week after week despite the lack of team success the Broncos were having.
And Jones has done his part to burn the bridge since he left.