The One Overlooked Departure That Could Hurt the Broncos

Not only was Locke the third safety onto the field — he did see defensive snaps weekly in certain sub-packages — but he was also a core special-teamer. Beyond that, he knew Vance Joseph's system very well and could be relied upon to start in the event of an injury to Talanoa Hufanga or Brandon Jones.

That's excatly what happened in late-December when Jones suffered a pectoral injury against the Green Bay Packers. The Broncos called on Locke as Jones was placed on injured reserve.

Locke started the remaining regular-season games and both playoff tilts. In the divisional round, he was instrumental in the Broncos vanquishing the Buffalo Bills, picking off a deep Josh Allen pass that came on a quick turnaround following a Bo Nix interception.

Locke's pick erased Nix's turnover, giving the Broncos new life and a window to continue battling back. That resulted in the Broncos forcing the game to overtime, where another Allen turnover (Ja'Quan McMillian) helped give Nix and the offense one last hurrah to get some points, and they did.

Broncos' Plan to Replace Locke

The Broncos didn't love seeing Locke walk out the door, but they had a plan. Part of that plan is the hoped ascension of Devon Key — a safety by trade, and an All-Pro special teams ace.

Hopefully, Key is ready to take on a bigger role on defense. If he's not, the Broncos went out and signed former Cincinnati Bengals safety Tycen Anderson.

Anderson is the Broncos' only outside free-agent signing since the 2026 offseason began. There will be more outside signings, but perhaps not much action until after the draft when the Broncos don't have to be so protective of the compensatory draft picks they're projected to receive for the departure of Franklin-Myers and Locke.

Anderson is an interesting player, but he's relatively unproven on defense. He's a bona fide contributor on special teams, though, which will be crucial, especially if Key phases more toward defense.

Expecting Anderson to step in and immediately pick up where Locke left off is unrealistic. However, I'm about as bullish on Anderson as it gets for a lower-tier signing. He was a good get for Denver.

The Takeaway

So, losing Locke, at first glance, doesn't seem like much. But digging deeper, it could have some larger cascading effects.

Much will depend on whether Key is ready for a bigger defensive role, and the same goes for Anderson. Like defensive line, safety is a position I would expect the Broncos to prioritize in the draft next month.

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