The legal tampering period started on Monday in the NFL, and most teams around the league have been signing free agents to big-money deals, and those deals will all become official at 4 pm ET today when the new league year begins. However, our Denver Broncos are one of three teams that, as of this writing, have not signed an external free agent. They have been busy re-signing a lot of their own free agents while also losing a couple to free agency, but they have not made a new addition to this team as of yet.
While they brought back linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, running back JK Dobbins, tight end Adam Trautman, and others, this strategy left Broncos fans wanting more. The team was poised to make a splash in the running back market heading into free agency, but missed out on trading for David Montgomery and lost Travis Etienne to the Saints. Many fans hoped the Broncos would upgrade their linebacker room, but they re-signed both Strand and Singleton, and the same goes for tight end.
I know there are some free agents still available, and the Broncos are expected to be players in the second and third waves of free agency, but the fact of the matter is, they haven’t signed anyone through two days of free agency.
Despite this, the Broncos’ Super Bowl odds have only dipped a little bit. According to our friends over at FanDuel Sportsbook, the Broncos’ Super Bowl odds coming into Monday were +2000. They had the 6th-best odds in the AFC behind the Ravens, Bills, Chiefs, Chargers, and Patriots. Currently, on the Wednesday morning before the league year begins, the Broncos are now +2200 to win the Super Bowl according to FanDuel and have the 7th-best odds in the AFC, falling behind the Texans.
With all that in mind, let us take a look at the Broncos’ winners and losers from free agency thus far.
WINNER – Broncos free agents
If you were a free agent of the Broncos this offseason, there is a good chance that you are back with the team. The likes of Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto, Courtland Sutton, Malcolm Roach, and Luke Wattenberg were going to be free agents at the end of the year. The Broncos signed them to contract extensions throughout the summer and season. They placed a tender on cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian, re-signed Alex Palczewski, Nate Adkins, Sam Ehlinger, and then re-signed Adam Trautman, JK Dobbins, Justin Strnad, and Alex Singleton before and after the legal tampering period opened.
Re-signing a bunch of players who were part of your 15-win team that more than likely would have made the Super Bowl if quarterback Bo Nix didn’t break his ankle isn’t a bad thing. Head Coach Sean Payton and GM George Paton told us they liked their roster and proved it thus far through free agency. They have brought back many of their own free agents and plan on running it back with largely the same roster because they feel like this is a Super Bowl team.
LOSER – Broncos defense
While the Broncos were able to sign a lot of their free agents, they did lose some key pieces. Defensive linemen John Franklin-Myers signed with the Titans, safety P.J. Locke signed with the Cowboys, and the Broncos are going to release linebacker Dre Greenlaw.
JFM was a big part of the Broncos’ defense and pass rush, and his loss leaves a big hole that someone will need to replace. The Broncos did sign Malcolm Roach to an extension so he could see more snaps, while 2025 rookie Sai’vion Jones will need to develop and show some promise this upcoming season. Losing Locke weakens a safety room that already had some questionable depth. Talanoa Hufanga is an All-Pro player but he has an injury history while Brandon Jones is entering the final year of his deal. Special teamers, including All-Pro Devon Key and JL Skinner, will have an opportunity to push for more playing time.
As for Greenlaw, yes, he only played 8 games and frankly, did not make a noticeable impact on the defense. However, he was a big splash signing just last season, which brought a lot of excitement to this team. Now, the Broncos are moving on after just one season and going with the two linebackers that were already on the roster when they signed Greenlaw to be the man? A bit of an underwhelming turn of events.
The Broncos’ defense is still good, but it lost some important pieces and will need other players to step up. Again, it’s still very early, and they can and probably will add some new blood to the defense, but for now, the Broncos’ defense is a loser through two days of free agency.
LOSER – QB Bo Nix
The Broncos are out from Russell Wilson’s dead cap hit and were just one game away from making the Super Bowl. This is the offseason where you surround Bo Nix with weapons!
-fart noise-
As of now, that has not happened. Sure, they re-signed running back JK Dobbins, who was great before his injury, but he needs to show he can avoid getting hurt and missing significant time. He helps the run game, but many of us were hoping for a bigger splash at this position to give Bo Nix a consistent run game.
Okay, what about tight end? There were some big names in free agency that would help this team. Nope, you get blocking specialist Adam Trautman. Now, some of these names, like David Njoku and Dallas Goedert, remain, but as of now, the Broncos’ tight end room remains unchanged despite being very poor last season.
Fine, what about wide receiver? Well, the Broncos were in the mix for multiple receivers like Jalen Nailor, Kendrick Bourne, and Romeo Doubs, and likely others, but either lost out or didn’t make an offer. There are some names still available, like Jauan Jennings, but as of now, the Broncos haven’t brought in a new weapon for Bo Nix.
It’s still early, and they have the draft upcoming, but you would have hoped the Broncos would have come out of the legal tampering period with more than JK Dobbins and Adam Trautman.
WINNER – Broncos young talent
The Broncos are showing faith in their young talent on the roster.
If the Broncos signed a Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker, or Travis Etienne, RJ Harvey’s role on offense likely would have been minimized a bit. Those backs are true number 1’s, and Harvey would turn into that change-of-pace guy who contributes as a pass-catcher. However, with Dobbins back, he is still the Broncos 1B. With his injury history, you don’t want to give Dobbins a large workload throughout the year with the hopes of keeping him healthy for December and the playoffs. So, that would mean a larger role for Harvey as a runner and pass catcher. They figure to still add to this room, but for now, Harvey will continue to have a big role on the offense.
At wide receiver, they showed some interest in guys, but were unwilling to be the highest bidder. So far, that is good news for Troy Franklin, Pat Bryant, and Marvin Mims. Now, they can still add to this room, but it seems like they truly do like their wide receiver room. With that said, there are some names still out there that they can add.
With John Franklin-Myers gone, the Broncos are showing a lot of faith in second-year defensive linemen Sai’vion Jones. Replacing an interior pass rusher is very important, and the Broncos drafted Jones clearly with the hopes of him being the in-house replacement for JFM. As of now, they haven’t made any significant additions to their defensive line, so maybe they have faith in their young defensive linemen.
