The Denver Broncos spent the legal tampering period of free agency retaining virtually all of their inhouse free agents. In the second week, they made their big splash acquiring star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle from the Miami Dolphins and signed former Cincinnati Bengals safety Tycen Anderson to add depth at safety and compete for a special team’s role.
That puts the Broncos at 73 players toward their 90-man roster allotment that can be used throughout the spring and summer before the cut down to their top
53 players for the 2026 season. As of now, Denver is slated to have seven selections in the NFL Draft to round out their roster alongside any UDFA players they sign after the draft is over.
2026 Denver Broncos Draft Selections
- 62 Overall — Second Round
- 108 Overall — Fourth Round (via New Oleans)
- 111 Overall — Fourth Round (via Miami)
- 170 Overall — Fifth Round
- 246 Overall — Seventh Round
- 256 Overall — Seventh Round (Compensatory)
- 257 Overall — Seventh Round (Compensatory)
What are Denver’s biggest draft needs?
With most of their roster intact and few starting positions up for grabs, the Broncos don’t have to bank on finding an immediate contributor in the second round. However, General Manager George Paton has been successful finding good players in round two (Nik Bonitto, Marvin Mims Jr., RJ Harvey) over the past several drafts. I think they are position to be extremely flexible with how they approach their draft strategy.
The biggest long-term question marks for Denver boil down to a few positions. The Broncos’ starting offensive tackle duo of Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey are set in stone for ‘26. Beyond that? Who knows what the future holds. At some point in time, I feel the franchise needs to invest a draft pick at the position. They haven’t done so at tackle since they snagged Bolles out of Utah in 2017.
At inside linebacker, the duo of Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton will be back for the ‘26 season. They have several intriguing UDFA players in the fold (Karene Reid and Jordan Turner), but no player in the fold that they have drafted recently who have the potential to be future starters. This year’s draft is fairly deep at linebacker and believe Denver will try and draft a prospect with one of their top picks.
Denver’s starting safety tandem of Brandon Jones and Talanoa Hufanga was a strength for the team last season. Undrafted rookie free agent Devon Key was an All-Pro on special teams. They also have J.L. Skinner and Tycen Anderson as core special teamers. It’s not a drastic need, but Jones, Skinner, and Anderson are operating on the last year of their deals.
With Doug Belk as the new defensive backs coach and Kareem Jackson serving as a scout, I do believe the Broncos will add a safety in this year’s draft. Prospects with ties to Belk include A.J. Haulcy, Bishop Fitzgerald, and Kamari Ramsey. Historically, it’s a position where you can find prospects with starting potential on Day 3.
Last but not least, Denver would be wise to focus on depth solutions with future starting potential at running back and safety. The Broncos’ brass opted to run it back at both position groups, but adding some new talent to the room would be ideal. I think this is a down year in the draft at running back, but the tight end class has a lot of depth. If they can manage to add a player at each position with the picks they have, that would be sound to help round out the roster.
What do you think, Broncos Country? Let us know how you would navigate this year’s draft based on Denver’s moves the past few weeks.
