Where the Denver Broncos stand after early free agency

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos have largely attacked this offseason from the inside out.

They were final team to sign an outside free agent, as safety Tycen Anderson — who played for the Cincinnati Bengals for the past three seasons — was inked more than a week after the negotiating period began March 9. Prior to Anderson’s signing, the Broncos had re-signed 17 of their own unrestricted, restricted and exclusive rights free agents.

Even though last week’s trade for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle should add some much-needed pop to the offense, the roster “musts” coach Sean Payton mentioned before free agency began still need plenty of attention heading into the NFL draft, which starts April 23 in Pittsburgh.

So where do the Broncos stand after the first wave of free agency? Here are their remaining needs.

Tight end

The Broncos kept the status quo thus far. They re-signed Adam Trautman (three years), Nate Adkins (one year) and Lucas Krull (one year), while Evan Engram has a year left on the two-year deal he signed last offseason.

It’s a group that combined for only three touchdown receptions last season. No Broncos tight end averaged more than 9.8 yards per catch in 2025, highlighting a lack of impact, especially down the field. Among the league’s 38 tight ends with at least 40 targets last season, Engram was 36th in air yards per catch at 3.2.

With the Broncos’ first-round selection (No. 30 overall) being one of three picks sent to the Dolphins in the Waddle trade, tight end could be a position Denver addresses with its first pick in Round 2 (No. 62 overall). The top-rated tight end on the board — Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon) — is expected to be long gone, but Eli Stowers (Vanderbilt), Jack Endries (Texas), Joe Royer (Cincinnati), Eli Raridon (Notre Dame), Max Klare (Ohio State) and Marlin Klein (Michigan) are among a deep crop of tight ends who could be in play on Day 2 or early Day 3.

Inside linebacker

This is another position with a lot of depth in the draft and a place where a rookie could get snaps immediately.

“I think that this is a pretty good linebacker class,” Broncos general manager George Paton said at the combine. “It is a tough position for a rookie to come in and play right away, especially with some of the things that we do. [But] I do like the depth of this class, I do. We’ll see.”

The Broncos re-signed two of their own unrestricted free agent linebackers — Alex Singleton (two years) and Justin Strnad (three years) — but released Dre Greenlaw. Greenlaw missed nine games last season, eight with injury and one due to a suspension, and played 324 defensive snaps.

Greenlaw started alongside Singleton in Denver’s base defense, so his snaps are currently unfilled. There could be up to nine inside linebackers ranked among the draft’s top 70 on some draft boards, and the Broncos were active at the position with their allotted formal 1-on-1 meetings at the combine.

Defensive line

This position group had the Broncos’ biggest free agent loss, as defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers signed a three-year, $63 million contract with the Tennessee Titans. Franklin-Myers topped 500 snaps in each of his two seasons with the Broncos but was caught in a numbers crunch after the Broncos gave contract extensions to Zach Allen, Malcolm Roach and D.J. Jones.

Allen, who led the NFL in quarterback hits last season, has joked that if he buys a beach house he’ll call it the “JFM house, because he helped me get it,” so Franklin-Myers’ impact will need to be replaced. Internally, the Broncos believe Eyioma Uwazurike, who played a career-high 409 snaps this past season, is ready for an expanded role, but the Broncos have several defensive linemen on the list of their 30 allotted predraft visits to their complex.

Running back

Status quo also reigns here. The Broncos re-signed J.K. Dobbins (last season’s leading rusher) to a two-year deal and brought back fullback Adam Prentice. They’ll also return RJ Harvey, a second-round pick last April who rushed for 540 yards and had a team-leading 12 combined touchdowns as a rookie.

But Dobbins was sidelined after Week 10 with a foot injury and has not played more than 13 games in a season since he was a rookie in 2020. His production was sorely missed, as he led Denver in rushing by 232 yards and in runs of 10-plus yards (21) despite missing the final seven games. But both Payton and Paton have said they believe Harvey will continue to be ready for more in the team’s offense.

“I thought [Harvey] had a really good year for a rookie and everything that was thrown to him,” Paton said. “Then Dobbins gets hurt and he comes in. He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands and you saw that at all stages during the season … just him with the ball in his hands and his route-running ability. I thought he improved [in] first and second down. … I couldn’t be more happy about RJ.”

But the Broncos struggled to find a rotation and rhythm in the run game after Dobbins’ injury, with Harvey ranking 47th in the league in rushing yards per carry (3.4) after Week 10. The Broncos also didn’t have a running back ranked in the top 40 in big-play runs (10 yards or more) in the final eight weeks, with Harvey ranking 43rd.

The Broncos had formal meetings at the combine with running backs Jadarian Price (Notre Dame), Jonah Coleman (Washington) and Emmett Johnson (Nebraska).