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The Buffalo Bills have suffered far too many injuries along the offensive line in the early portion of training camp. While the team accounted for this by adding plenty of depth, they still need “camp bodies”—players to take the reps in preseason games, which mean nothing—before they give the meaningful regular-season reps to those players at the top of the depth chart.
In today’s installment of our “90 players in 90 days” series, we profile the newest addition to Buffalo’s roster—a former defensive tackle looking to become an offensive lineman in the pros.
Name: Jarron Jones
Number: 72
Position: OT
Height/Weight: 6’6” 320 lbs.
Age: 25 (26 on 3/11/20)
Experience/Draft: 1; signed as UDFA with New York Giants following 2017 NFL Draft
College: Notre Dame
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo on 8/6/19
Financial situation (per Spotrac): No terms are listed on Jones’s deal as of yet, but the veteran’s minimum for someone with his experience level is $570,000. It’s safe to assume that the contract is a one-year deal at that amount with zero guaranteed money.
2018 Recap: Jones had a bit of an Odysseus-like trek in 2018, spending his days in multiple places before coming home to Western New York. (He’s from Rochester.) He began the calendar year with the Dallas Cowboys before he was released in May. The New York Giants, who had released him as a defensive tackle the season prior, signed him as an offensive tackle, only to release him once again in August. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him one week later, and he appeared in preseason action for the team. The Buccaneers cut him when they trimmed their roster to 53 at the beginning of September, but they added him to their practice squad. They removed him from the practice squad in October, and he was added to (and removed from) Washington’s practice squad in November. The Detroit Lions then added him to the practice squad, where he remained until signing a reserve/future contract with the team in December.
Positional outlook: With offensive linemen dropping like flies, Jones has a chance to showcase himself in Bills camp. The other healthy offensive tackles are Dion Dawkins, Cody Ford, Conor McDermott, and Ty Nsekhe. De’Ondre Wesley is listed as a tackle but primarily plays guard, and Garrett McGhin has moved around the line, as well.
2019 Offseason: Jones signed with Buffalo on August 6 and participated in practice that day. He’s been participating ever since.
2019 Season outlook: It’s unlikely that Jones is anything more than a camp body, but at worst he’s an intriguing prospect with practice-squad potential who can showcase himself back at home.