ENGLEWOOD, Colorado. The Denver Broncos continued their measured approach during the first day of the early free agency negotiation period as they agreed on the terms of a three-year, $30 million deal with defenseman DJ Jones on Monday night, sources told ESPN. .
Jones, a nose tackle for the San Francisco 49ers, fills a special early defense need for the Broncos.
After Broncos general manager George Payton orchestrated a brilliant deal last week to acquire quarterback Russell Wilson, he then made a much more low-key entry into the first day of the open negotiation period.
The Broncos also signed tight end/defenseman Andrew Beck, tackle Calvin Anderson and defenseman Ben Braden to one-year contracts. Beck and Anderson were two restricted free agents for the Broncos, and Braden played in 16 games in four years with the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers.
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The Broncos have plenty of spots to fill in the defensive depth table with eight players who started at least one defensive game last season and are unrestricted free agents following the departure of defenseman Shelby Harris, who was traded to Seattle as part of a deal for Wilson.
Jones is the first addition since he made the most of a one-year contract he signed with the 49ers last season. The 27-year-old finished with a career-best 56 tackles and played a career-best 51% of snaps in the team’s defense.
In 2021, he had 10 tackles for a loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles. Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, who was hired in February after winning the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams, said he would keep a 3-4 look at defense.
In this formation, Jones plans to play the bow trap most of the time, working a lot on early downs, as well as some situational work on the pass rush.
Last season, Jones made 500 snaps for the 49ers. In 2021, only two of the Broncos’ linebackers have played more than 500 snaps – Harris and Dre’Mont Jones.
San Francisco originally selected Jones in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He appeared in 61 games with 126 tackles, 7 sacks and 23 tackles for a loss in his five seasons with the team.