Report: Buffalo Bills signing former Panthers LB Deion Jones to one-year contract

The Buffalo Bills are signing a man who used to be one of the top linebackers in the National Football League at one point in time. On Thursday evening, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Bills are signing former Panthers and Falcons linebacker Deion Jones. The contract is for one year.

Jones was selected with the No. 52 pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons out of LSU. He spent six seasons in Atlanta, earning Pro Football Writers of America NFL All-Rookie Team honors in his first season and a Pro Bowl selection in his second.

He appeared in 85 games for the Falcons recording 652 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and 11 interceptions before being traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2022 along with a 2024 seventh-round pick for 2024 sixth-round pick.

Jones appeared in 11 games for the Browns, making five starts, ending the year with 44 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, three passes defended, an interception, and a forced fumble.

He’s had a truly exceptional career thus far, racking up 731 total tackles, 12 sacks, five forced fumbles, and 13 interceptions. In the prime of his career, he was one of the best pass coverage linebackers in the National Football League. There are few quite like him. The majority of his best years came with the Atlanta Falcons, where he had five 100-tackle seasons, including three straight (2019-2021) at one point.

During his college football playing days with LSU, Jones struggled to break into a major contributing role until his senior campaign in 2015. But once he settled in as a starter, he flashed the immense potential we would all see for the majority of his NFL career.

Jones was dominant for the Tigers, racking up 100 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions, one pick-six, three passes defended, and one forced fumble. It should come as no surprise with those impressive numbers that he was a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker.

Leading up to the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones flashed some amazing measurables, including a 4.38 second 40-yard dash. That impressive speed caught the eye of several different NFL teams, including the Atlanta Falcons, the team that would make him their franchise linebacker for several years to come.

On3’s Kaiden Smith also contributed to this article.