ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With the Tuesday opening of the NFL franchise-tag window, the Dre’Mont Jones Watch has officially begun.
Jones is the Denver Broncos’ best defensive lineman and the only player among the team’s 17 unrestricted free agent players who would receive franchise-tag discussion. Teams can place the franchise tag on one player (a maneuver late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is credited with devising back in the day so he wouldn’t lose his franchise quarterback John Elway) between Tuesday and March 7.
The unrestricted free agency negotiating period opens Monday, March 13.
The Broncos’ 17 free agents: Offensive linemen Dalton Risner, Calvin Anderson, Cam Fleming, Billy Turner, Tom Compton; inside linebackers Alex Singleton and Dakota Allen; safety Kareem Jackson; tight ends Eric Tomlinson and Eric Saubert; running backs Latavius Murray, Mike Boone and Marlon Mack; fullback/tight end Andrew Beck; cornerback Darius Phillips and defensive linemen DeShawn Williams and Jones.
The reason why Jones is considered the lone franchise-tag candidate from this group is the price-range market for a 26-year-old interior pass rusher who averaged better than 6 sacks the three previous seasons isn’t far off from this year’s franchise-tag salaries of $18.937 million for a defensive tackle or $19.727 million for a defensive end.
While a player like Dalton Risner could also be a free-agent priority as a four-year starting left guard for the Broncos, the NFL and union curiously combine the lower paying guard and center positions with highly paid left tackles, leaving his franchise tag salary at $18.244 million – a figure driven up by left tackles but considered exorbitant for guards.
Likewise, Alex Singleton. He’s a terrific, if underrated, inside linebacker, but that is a lower-paying position that is combined with the higher-paid outside linebackers for a $20.926 million. Singleton’s insider linebacker partner last year, Josey Jewell, received a $5.5 million annual average deal on the onset of 2022 free agency.
Even the franchise-tag salaries that would be assigned to Jones (he’s a defensive end in the 3-4, but 3-4 defensive ends are considered defensive tackles in the 4-3) are likely considered too rich for the Broncos, at least for now. If they do tag Jones it likely wouldn’t be executed until closer to the March 7 deadline. If then. The Broncos may also pass on the tag placeholder with hopes of working out a multiyear deal with Jones by the March 13 free-agency opening.
The Broncos last placed the franchise tag on safety Justin Simmons and they did so twice -- in 2020 and 2021. Simmons played on the $13.73 million tag in 2020, then was able to use the second tag in 2021 as leverage to receive a four-year, $61 million extension ($15.25 million per year) a couple days after the start of free agency.
From Jones’ perspective, it may make sense to wait and see what his market value brings from free agency. The Broncos do want Jones back. He’s a good player and when a team is coming off a 5-12 season, it needs more good players, not less. Most likely, the Broncos and Jones will engage in a down-to-the-deadline negotiation -- whether that deadline is March 7 for the tag or March 13-15 for free agency.
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