Dre’Mont Jones makes it perfectly clear he wants to be with the Broncos
Feb 10, 2023, 2:04 PM
Perhaps the Broncos biggest offseason priority is figuring out the future of defensive end Dre’Mont Jones.
While Jones is mostly known as an interior defensive lineman, he’s officially listed as an end by the team. He’s a free agent come March, so Denver has to figure out what they’re going to do. They could offer him a mega-deal, they could let him leave or they could franchise tag him for one-year. That would cost a cool $19.7 million dollars.
Despite some less than flattering comments during the season, and some questionable social media “likes,” Jones made it clear with a tweet on Thursday he wants to remain with the Broncos.
Denver Bronco fam, I love the love & critiques that I’ve been getting these past few days, it keeps me humble lol. I WANT TO BE A BRONCO for as long as possible. MY social medias are for entertainment. There are no cryptic messages behind what I do on MY socials. Hope this helps.
— Dre'Mont Jones (@TheOfficial_80) February 9, 2023
That’s a strong statement, particularly after Jones said in November “I’m here right now,” with almost no enthusiasm when asked about his future. It seems like Jones knows the Broncos are contemplating offering him generational wealth, and his tone has changed.
On Wednesday’s “Stokley and Zach” on 104.3 The Fan, the guys discussed his future in Denver.
“I think they’re going to franchise tag him. His tone throughout this has not been great,” Zach Bye said. “You remember him being asked ‘do you want to be here?’ And he’s like ‘I’m here right now.’ It’s like, dang, okay.”
Brandon Stokley thinks he knows why Jones said that at the time.
“He was probably upset, felt like the Broncos should’ve had something done and been more aggressive during the season in signing him,” Stokley said. “As a player, you wanted to get extended during the season. You want to take some of that risk off your plate. You want to know where you’re going to be for the next four or five years.”
With new head coach Sean Payton in town, everyone’s future could be up in the air. But the Broncos would be wise to keep Jones and his 6.5 sacks from a season ago. He had dominating moments early, before his play suffered after the trade of Bradley Chubb. Jones’ motivation level may have gone down as well, with Denver in the midst of an awful season.
That appears to be water under the bridge, however, and Jones certainly sounds like a man who wants to remain in the Mile High City.
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