The Denver Broncos have the NFL’s singularly elite defensive player with cornerback Patrick Surtain II, who is only 24 years old and the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
While Surtain is the type of player a team can build a championship defense around, there’s not a lot of depth at cornerback behind him and fellow starter Riley Moss.
That means the cash-strapped (until 2026) Broncos should consider some short-term help in 2025, which might mean taking a chance on embattled former Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jack Jones.
Jones has 7 interceptions through his first 3 seasons with 4 returned for touchdowns but was released by the Raiders on April 7 in a move led by the new regime of head coach Pete Carroll, general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady.
“The #Raiders are releasing CB Jack Jones, sources say, after Las Vegas attempted to trade him,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on April 7. “An intriguing option for a CB-needy team.”
The Broncos could get good value on Jones in 2025 with a 1-year, $1.1 million veteran contract. It’s the type of deal that doesn’t put them in any sort of financial bind and gives Jones a chance to restart his career — likely a last chance.
Same Issues Followed Jones at 2 Different Stops
For someone of his talent level, Jones should be playing toward a lucrative contract extension and not hoping to land a veteran minimum deal. That’s entirely his own fault.
Selected in the fourth round (No. 121 overall) out of Arizona State in the 2022 NFL draft by the New England Patriots but was released midway through his second season after a series of off-field issues. Jones’ former high school and college coach, Antonio Pierce, gave him another chance and he finished 2023 with the Raiders.
Pierce was fired following one season as the Raiders’ head coach in 2024.
“In the summer of 2023, (Jones) was arrested when loaded guns were found in his carry-on luggage at Boston Logan Airport,” The Athletic’s Tashan Reed wrote on April 8. “While charges were later dropped, the issues didn’t stop there. He missed curfew at the Patriots’ team hotel before their Week 9 contest and was released shortly after … Jones entered 2024 with high expectations but fell well short. He was a Week 1 starter but was benched in Week 4 due to a lack of effort late in a Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He started the rest of the season, but his play was wildly inconsistent. He frequently gave up big plays, took unnecessary risks and was a non-factor in run support.”
Jones’ off-field struggles date back to college, where the former 5-star recruit was thrown off the team at USC over academic issues after he led the team with 4 interceptions in 2017. He was arrested in June 2018 for burglarizing a Panda Express in Southern California and eventually served 45 days of house arrest.
Jones was also suspended for 2 out of 4 games for Arizona State in 2020 during a pandemic-shortened season.
“For whichever team acquires Jones, the hope is that he can find consistency on the field and make better decisions off the field,” Reed wrote. “If that comes to fruition, he’s a starting-caliber outside cornerback.”
