Two More Broncos Should Have Made NFL.com's 'Best Team Money Can Buy'

The Denver Broncos have a well-built roster, thanks to the efforts of GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton, and this was reflected in NFL.com's latest roster-building exercise. In that exercise, five Broncos made the roster, which was the second most, behind the Philadelphia Eagles' eight players.

Despite that, there are two Broncos who should have made the "best roster that money can buy," but didn’t. Both of them should have made it over one of the players who did.

Recently, NFL.com's Tom Blair created his best 53-man roster that money can buy by staying under the salary cap. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II was the lone starter for the Broncos, with quarterback Bo Nix, tight end Evan Engram, rush linebacker Nik Bonitto, and safety Talanoa Hufanga making the roster as backups. Upon review, there are two missing Broncos who should have been included. 

Quinn Meinerz

Meinerz is one of the best guards in the NFL, and is still cheap for the 2025 season even with his new extension. With Blair wanting to stay under the salary cap, there are a few ways he could have adjusted Meinerz's $5.4 million cap hit, rounded up.

Dominick Puni of the San Francisco 49ers is the starting right guard and counts for $1.3 million against the cap, so to get Meinenz on the roster, you’d have to cut about $4.1 million, which could be done by removing Engram. 

Before moving on, it's worth noting that Blair made this decision with a cap on the number of rookie contracts that could be allowed, with 12 for the first three rounds, four per round, and a total of 12 for the final four rounds. Puni, a third-round pick, used up one of those third-round picks. Removing him would open the door for another third-round pick. 

Let’s face it, despite the hype surrounding Engram for the Broncos this season, it isn’t a given for him to make Blair's roster. Now, to fill that spot is Tucker Kraft, a player on a third-round rookie contract.

That gives the cap space needed for Meinerz to make it, and there's no argument in the world where Engram is more deserving to make it over the first-team All-Pro right guard. Even with the other players involved, Engram and Puni should lose out to Meinerz and Kraft, mainly because Meinerz is one of the best guards in the NFL, and would make Blair's offensive line significantly better. 

Marvin Mims Jr.

The other player is Mims, a second-round rookie-contract player, so you would have to free up the spot there. KaVontae Turpin made it as the sixth receiver and returner, and he costs about $1.5 million more than Mims does.

In terms of play, Mims has been an All-Pro punt and kick returner in his two years and had almost as many yards on offense last year as Turpin has in his career. So, if you can open up that second-round rookie contract, it's easy to see why Mims should make it over Turpin. 

The four players Blair had as his second-round rookie contracts were: wide receiver Ladd McConkey, center Zach Frazier, Bonitto, and cornerback Cooper DeJean. While you could make a case for a different center, wide receiver, or edge rusher, replacing DeJean is the easiest spot to address. You do take a hit in terms of talent, but none of them are a big enough drop-off to justify keeping DeJean and Turpin over Mims. 

The Takeaway

So, all-in-all, five Broncos making Blair’s roster is good to see, but he missed on a couple of easy adjustments to add two Broncos players, and removing one, who would’ve made his team even better in this project.

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When you have great talents like Meinerz and Mims as returners, and they're on cheap cap hits for 2025, you have to make it work. Both of those players, due to cost and value, deserve to make it over three of the Broncos players featured on Blair's roster.