Miami Dolphins have signed Byron Jones, who becomes the high-paid cornerback in the NFL
During NFL free agency, the Dolphins struck a huge deal on Monday. They were able to sign the former Dallas Cowboys cornerback for $82.5 million with $57 million guaranteed for the next five years. This deal puts the former Pro Bowler as the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. The contract will pay Jones $40 million within the first two years, which follows the team’s recent trend of front-loading contracts to avoid being stuck in bloated deals as players age into the backend of contracts.
Byron Jones Stats
The 27-year-old cornerback has become one of the top boundary corners in the league. After five years with the Cowboys, and three of those years at safety, Jones may not have the high numbers of interceptions compared to the top-notch ballhawks of the league. However, this lockdown corner is a threat to any offense, causing quarterbacks to avoid throwing his way. Jones over the past two seasons has 20 pass defenses and 113 total tackles. Jones led the NFL in percentage of targets into tight windows at 50%. He’s a strong fit in coach Brian Flores‘ defense that played man coverage on 61% of the snaps last season, fourth-most in the NFL.
With the addition of Jones, Miami has a solid defensive back core and the top two highest-paid corners in the league in Jones and Xavien Howard (five years for $76.5 million). The Dolphin defense now consists of Howard, safety Bobby McCain, cornerback Eric Rowe, and the newly acquired safety Clayton Fejedelem in Flores’ revamped defense. With the combination of this new look in the Dolphins secondary, the defense can hopefully move them from being 26th in the NFL when it came to pass defense last season.
The offseason is not over yet for Dolphins. Miami still holds a good deal of cap space and 14 draft picks to use come April for the NFL Draft. With the new look for the team, the Dolphins how to improve from a 5-11 record last season.
