August 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Denver Broncos offensive tackle Frank Crum (73) after the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Broncos Had Heavy Trade Interest in Young Offensive Tackle

Originally posted on Denver Broncos on SI
By Zack Kelberman | Last updated Aug 26, 2025 9:51 PM ET

The Denver Broncos officially unveiled their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, a Week 1-ready squad that again includes former undrafted offensive tackle Frank Crum. The reasoning for this is both conscious and strategic.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton claimed in his post-cutdown press conference that Crum, 25, drew trade interest from three NFL teams—none of which will disrupt their "vision" for the mountainous blocker.

“Just the athleticism. He’s been a player [that] we’ve had three teams call on him. It’s the upside and the size and the athleticism, his feet, his protection," Payton told reporters. "We have a clear and a really good vision for what we think he can become. That ceiling is high. You can tell there are other teams doing their homework the same way.”

A first-team All-Mountain West standout at Wyoming, Crum (6-8, 215) joined the Broncos following the 2024 Draft, bypassing an opportunity to play in the United Football League. He was active for six games, logging 33 total snaps (24 on special teams) as a reserve lineman.

"Certainly, he was a guy that we had to really battle in free agency on, but man his size and upside—he wasn't one that we were considering. We felt like he made this team," Payton said last August.

The Broncos went heavy on the OL in composing their final roster, keeping nine in total—five starters (Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey) and four backups (Crum, Alex Palczewski, Matt Peart, Alex Forsyth).

Crum is comfortably stationed as a primary backup to Bolles and McGlinchey, the latter of whom is assured by the collective depth of the unit.

“Well, [Head Coach] Sean [Payton] said it this morning, the first year that he was here he said these meetings were a little easier, the second year was a lot harder, and then last night there were hours and hours and hours of deliberation of who stays, who goes, how they can work the roster," McGlinchey said Tuesday. "That’s a testament to the work that’s been done here over the last three years of identifying players and putting them in positions to be successful and developing the talent that we have here. Certainly my position group, we’ve had a lot of continuity. I think I spoke about it earlier this spring of how rare it is to be returning almost everybody from the two-deep plus to a roster. I’ve very rarely have seen that, and I think that’s what we’re doing at a lot of different positions groups, not just the offensive line. We believe in the people that are in this building, we believe the coaches that are developing the talent, it definitely makes it harder on those guys upstairs to figure out what happens over that last three days.”

This article first appeared on Denver Broncos on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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