Five Winners and Losers from Broncos Free Agency Moves

Well, Elliss and Tillman being here is clear with the Cooper restructure. Denver could be looking at opening up the logjam to get Que Robinson on the field. Cooper was speculated to be the guy with his cost, but with his restructure, attention now turns to Elliss and Tillman, with Elliss having two years left on his rookie deal and Tillman on a one-year exclusive rights tender. 

It's a similar story with Harvey, as J.K. Dobbins is back as the starting back, keeping Harvey in his backup role and limited playing time. The fact that Denver was in on multiple running backs and guys who were going to be costly adds to the bad news for Harvey. He will still be around and have his role, but there is no chance he ends up being the guy again, without an injury.

Winner: Sai’vion Jones & Eyioma Uwazurike

Not only did the Broncos allow John Franklin-Myers to walk, but they didn’t bring in any defensive linemen at the time of writing this, which stands in the way of being the starter. Uwazurike can start, but even then, it’d likely be a rotation based on down and distance between the two, with not one keeping their snap counts down. 

Franklin-Myers played 569 snaps last year, with Uwazurike at 479 and Jones at 33. Uwazurike will likely be a similar percentage of snaps this year, with Jones getting the significant increase. If Denver signs a veteran or even drafts a player, it could change the snap balance when the time comes. 

Loser: Bo Nix

There is nothing wrong with wanting to keep the same guys around, but not adding a major weapon for the young quarterback is problematic. It's an even bigger problem when the inconsistency of the weapons around him led to serious issues for the offense. 

Out of 26 qualifying quarterbacks last year, only one had a worse drop percentage than Nix did. The Broncos' receivers dropped the second-most passes in the NFL.

Sean Payton highlighted drops after the season, and aside from making a change to their wide receiver coach, the Broncos have yet to take any action to improve reliability. Drops hurt the offense and hurt the quarterback's production, and can often put him in a bad spot, not to mention increasing the risk of an interception.

Winner: Evan Engram

If the Broncos went out and made a big splash at tight end, Engram would be at risk of being cut. However, they didn’t do that, and that will keep him in Denver, at least for now.

Of course, there are still some tight ends out there that Denver can look at, but the market has mostly dried up. 

With his play last year, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Broncos did at least look into getting someone and parting ways with Engram. It would be similar to the situation with Dre Greenlaw, except they brought back their own two guys instead of an outside guy. 

Loser: Jahdae Barron and/or Riley Moss

Denver put a second-round tender on Ja’Quan McMillian, which brings him back for this coming season and makes him a free agent next year. Moss is also a free agent next year.

Odds are, Denver can’t keep both, and likely won’t explore it with Barron waiting in the wings. McMillian's return keeps the seat warm for Moss, especially during the draft. 

As for Barron, unless Denver moves one of Moss or McMillian, he will spend his first two years as a situational player, and that isn’t a great sign. It can not only significantly impact the player's development but also wreck his confidence, and a corner is a confidence position.

It's also a bad waste of rookie contract years on the Broncos' part. It's a safe bet that either Moss or McMillian won't be with Denver at the end of the season, with one moved sometime between the draft and the trade deadline. 

Winner: Justin Strnad

Strnad fought and worked his butt off to earn the extension he got. He sat and waited and continued to work, even turning down a deal with the Carolina Panthers a couple of years ago to return to Denver. He waited for his turn, and Denver rightfully rewarded him. 

Strnad's deal is a great one for him and for Denver, where he will be starting. Denver is paying him less than the average starting salary for starting linebackers, at about $4 million. If you take out rookie contracts, it's about 50% off the average starting cost for a veteran starting linebacker. 

Loser: Davis Webb

Sean Payton handed the play-calling duties over to Davis Webb after promoting him to offensive coordinator, but the Broncos aren’t giving him better weapons to work with. Yes, Denver did well overall last season, but no one watching them can say that the offense didn’t have issues, and those issues stemmed largely from the quality of the weapons surrounding Nix. 

Webb likely wanted some of these guys back; in fact, it’d be a surprise if he didn't, but he'd likely want better, more reliable weapons to work with, especially at wide receiver and tight end. Also, keeping their injury concerns at running back, where the rushing attack was almost non-existent after Dobbins got hurt, probably doesn’t sit well with Webb either. 

Winner: Devon Key

After being the fourth safety, Key is currently in a prime position for a role increase after P.J. Locke left in free agency to head to the Dallas Cowboys. Key was one of the best special teams players in the NFL last year (second-team All-Pro), and did quite well when he had to step in on defense when Brandon Jones and Locke both got banged up. 

Key only played 82 snaps on defense this last season, with 53 of them coming in the season finale. He had a great game playing for the majority of it, and his play likely helped Denver feel comfortable in allowing Locke to walk. 

Loser: Broncos Country

Fans want the big splash signing. It brings excitement, even though they don’t always work as expected. The Broncos stood pat and brought back their own guys as they want to keep things together after reaching the AFC championship game. 

The issue is that only one team has made the Super Bowl since 2018, and it didn’t make big splashes. Those splashes help your team take the next step, so Denver is putting a significant bet on its 2025 draft class and incoming rookies to be those difference-makers right away and get them over the hump and into the Super Bowl, and even World Champs.

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