Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos BIG SPLASH In NFL Free Agency Could Be Linebacker?

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

The Denver Broncos could make a big splash in NFL Free Agency next week and it could come in the form of inside linebacker. Who would be the best fit for the Broncos defense if the main options were Zach Baun, Nick Bolton, or Dre Greenlaw? Denver is also expected to sign a wide receiver of note, which is being reported as a possibility. Plus, will the Broncos sign a potential starting safety like Cam Bynum? Cody Roark is a credentialed beat reporter for Mile High Sports and covers the Broncos daily in person. Sayre Bedinger is the site expert for Predominantly Orange. Both bring Broncos Country the most in-depth and objective coverage of the Denver Broncos. WANT MORE DAILY DENVER BRONCOS CONTENT?For all of the latest Denver Broncos news today -- Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBroncos?sid=YouTube Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow on Twitter: @CodyRoarkNFL and @SayreBedingerFollow the show on Twitter: @LockedOnBroncos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!ChewyChewy has everything you need to keep your pet happy and healthy. And right now you can save $20 on your first order and get free shipping by going to Chewy.com/LOCKEDONNFL. FanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

NFL free agency is just about two weeks away in the Denver Broncos strategy for how they're going to approach it. It might have been revealed by Broncos GM, George Payton. We'll break that down. And much more on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. You are Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening in Broncos country? Welcome into another episode of Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast network where you know, it is your team every day. day for all your Broncos news content coverage analysis and more that you can't get anywhere else.

Lockdown Broncos is the place to be. So thank you so much to everyone at Broncos country, all the everydayers. Thank you for making us your first listening. If you haven't done so already, becoming every day or so you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos reporter here from Mile High Sports. Join, as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com. You can check out our work there exclusively at Milehysports.com and also predominantly Orange.com as one. We got a jam-packed episode for you here today. Broncos country.

Our NFL free agency preview continues here. The Broncos free agency plan might have been unveiled a tiny bit by Georgia and Sean Payton last week at the NFL Scout and Combine. We're going to talk about what makes sense. We'll look at free agency plans for 2025. Also, Denver expected to sign a wide receiver of note in free agency, a possibility here for Denver. We're going to kick things off today by talking about the Broncos big splash that they could make.

It could be the inside linebacker position. Sarah, that seems to be. where the vibes or where the tea leaves are kind of heading towards his free agency approaches us March 12th legal negotiating period obviously on March 10th. That's just a handful of days away. Which is great news for Denver Broncos fans who are eager to see what new pieces are going to be added to this roster. And of course, the Broncos have cap space, Cody.

They are over 40 million in cap space according to both over the cap and spa track. And they can free up additional cap space by making other moves. But as George Payton said, in his. his talk or sit down with Mike, Cliss, whatever it was over there at 9 News, our good friend, Mike. I think Cody, obviously, there's ways to manipulate the salary cap.

George Payton himself acknowledged that. So anybody out there's trying to dream up their scenarios for the Broncos this off season, hey, dream big because the Broncos know and believe that they can manipulate the salary cap. They got plenty of room to do that. But beyond that, the interesting note that I took from Cliss's article, Cody, is that he said the Broncos most expensive free agent may be an inside linebacker.

Now, that's not necessarily definitive, but I think it certainly gets you wondering, like, okay, well, then who are the most expensive linebackers available? You talk about like Zach Bonn and Nick Bolton, maybe Dre Greenlaw of the 49ers. I think the Broncos need to make a splash there. As we saw down the stretch last season, and we know they've got two prominent free agents, Cody Barton, Justin Sernod, and then Alex Singleton coming on. off an ACL injury. It's going to be interesting to see because there's not a long list of super expensive

potential guys at the off ball linebacker spot and free agency, but that is a place that you and I have been talking about the last couple weeks. We expect the Broncos to make a substantial investment. Yeah, and I think if we go back and forth here, I think you and I are probably in agreeance on if Denver's going to make a big splash, right, their big money spend would likely have to be either at linebacker or probably, you know, maybe even bringing in a safety, even though I don't think that would necessarily be a big splash, like a huge financial move for them. It's just, do you see them going out there and spinning big on the running back position in free agency?

I don't necessarily see that. Tight end. Is there a guy that you're going to pay a lot of money to at the tight end position in free agency? I don't necessarily see that being the case either. So it would either be linebacker as a big splash, wide receiver. If, you know, maybe that big splash is giving Cortland Sutton an extension and then bringing in a veteran. Obviously, we'll talk about that a little bit later on as a show progresses. but linebacker seems to be the most sense position right here in terms if you want to spend some money on it.

This is the one to do so. But it also, I think, comes with some risk associated with that, right? Because what are we seeing people talk about like Zach Bond? Like Zach Bonn, obviously the ties to Sean Payton. But I've seen so many people come out there and say, well, Zach Bonn was just a product of that defensive line out there in Philadelphia. And look, while I'll say having a D line like that is helpful for your linebackers, I think it takes away from what Zach Bonn actually did. Like people are like, oh, Zach Bond can't play like that anywhere else.

He used to be an edge rusher. He transitioned to off ball linebacker. So for me, I look at Zach Bonn. I'm thinking of myself, okay, this is a guy who's got highly athletic traits to him. He's highly instinctual. I watched him in the playoffs, Sarah. I didn't need to see the defensive line to see what Zach Bond can do. Zach Bond flies around to the football.

He is wherever it's at. If anything, Sarah, you mentioned Nick Bolton. You mentioned Zach Bonn and you mentioned Drake Greenlaw. I'm going to leave it up to you here. If you were to spend big on one of those three guys, who would it be? Well, I think if I had to spend big, it would probably be on Nick Bolton. I mean, I hate to, I know that he's a chief and he's been with the chiefs for the last handful of years. But, you know, and the everyday listeners of the show, shout out to them, they know that my personal brand is to go after the younger guys.

I mean, I think that, you know, you look at Bolton, he's 24 going to be, he actually turned 25 on the day of the legal negotiating period. So on his 25th birthday, he could be getting the biggest payday of his life. And I expect that to be the case. But, you know, with Nick Bolton being 25 and Zach Bond turning 29 later this year, that to me is a substantial difference. I mean, that's an entire life of a rookie contract right there. It's four years. So you could be, and again, it's, is it more about who can help the team now or for the feeable future? So in that event, I could see either of those two guys being, you know, making great cases.

Like if you're saying, hey, we want to sign a guy to a three-year deal and it's between one of those two guys, shoot, go for, go for Zach Bond and go for the guy that you had a conviction about if you're Sean Payton and even Cody Rager in the front office,

you've already had a conviction about this guy to draft him in the third round when he had tweener traits coming out of Wisconsin. I can't also help but wonder, Cody, is there a Zach Bonn already on the roster, you know, with Drew Sanders? he be the next Zach Bonn?

And why? Because Zach Bonn was nobody going into last year as far as, you know, what he is right now. So I would personally, if I had to pick one, I would say Nick Bolton. I know he doesn't have the straight line speed that maybe the Broncos are coveting. But in terms of age, injury history, productivity, I mean, that's the guy that I probably invest most money in. Okay. So now I'm going to flip the question a little bit here.

Let's look at two other guys. All right? Let's remove Zach Bond from the equation here. Let's look at Drake Greenlaw, the San Francisco 49ers, and Nick Bolton, in your opinion, who has the higher upside? I'm leaning a little bit more towards Drake Greenlaw. But I would say when you look at Greenlaw, when you factor in, he had that freak Achilles injury happened during the Super Bowl. I mean, that was awful. You know, then he works his way back.

And then I think it was a groin issue that he had that really sidelined him the rest of last year after he made his comeback. I understand the injury side of that, though. But if he's fully healthy, right? Bo Lowry gets his hands on him. Who has the potential to be a higher impact player for this Broncos defense? Would it be Drake Greenlaw? Would it be Nick Bolton? Well, I think definitely there's cases to be made for both because Greenlaw is probably

going to be able to play better in coverage. And Bolton is going to bring value on third downs, right? As we know, as a blitzer attacking the line of scrimmage, they both bring value in different ways. But you might be able to get better bang for your buck out of Drean-Law, considering the fact that he might not sign for nearly as much as. as somebody like Nick Bolton, but at the same time, if he's healthy, and yeah, he suffered the freak injury in 2023, gets shut down after like 40-something snaps in 2024.

So you do pay attention to that, and that does affect his value. I mean, significantly, but the 49ers can't keep him. They're already getting rid of guys. They're getting rid of their top wide receivers. They're not going to sign Drake Greenlaw to a big extension right now. So, I mean, I would say either of those guys present intriguing value and upside to the Broncos long term. But man, Greenlaw, he might give you better bang for your buck in terms of the fact that you're kind of buying his value at its lowest. I'd be leaning a little bit more towards Greenlaw here.

And obviously, Mike Kliss in his recent article he put together did indicate that like while Bolton obviously is someone who can play at a high level, doesn't necessarily possess the speed or the coverage traits that maybe the Broncos are looking for. And from all signs, from all indications of what Clis put out in his article, I'd say Cliss is probably the more trustworthy guy that's putting stuff out there. right now in terms of like where I think is there's more validity in terms of stuff coming. What's more likely here? The thing I look at with this piece is that he does mention in there that they want to

pair a linebacker next to Singleton, a guy who can run next to Singleton, more so where it's not putting Alex Singleton in that position where he's going to have to run around and do all this coverage stuff. Now, some parts, your defense, your dynamic, and require you at times to do that. But it seems like they're really focused on finding a wheel linebacker next to Singleton that can obviously go out there and play at a high level. You know, the wheel guys are going to tend to see a little bit more coverage dynamic, especially in bigger spaces of the field.

And I do remember at one point when when Drake Greenlaw was healthy, we're like, wow, how did the San Francisco 49ers luck into Greenlaw and Fred Warner at the inside backer position? I mean, obviously, they were the NFL's number one defense when those two guys were there at the inside backer position. So I would lean personally towards Greenlaw, if they were up to me, bonds and intriguing option. The age factor that you bring into question, I think is certainly valid,

especially if, you know, there's already concerns and skepticism about Alex Singleton. and the age in which he's already at. So for me, I think you have to find a way to go younger at this position and get a little more upside there. I feel like Drey Greenlaw would be that pick for me. But Broncos Country, Sarah and I, we want to hear from you if you do choose between the three linebackers. We talked about Nick Bolton, Zach Bonner, Dreanlaw,

where would you prefer the Broncos lean towards an NFL free agency here? But we're not done. We got a lot to break down here on today's episode of the show. Up next Broncos country, the Denver Broncos are expected to sign a wider seer of note. according to our good friend Mike Clist, but what does that look like? Who could it be? We'll break down every option here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to our friends over there at Fandu.

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Who could be on that list? As Mike Cliss, our good friend, Nine News, put out a post outlining the potential Broncos free agency plan. He said that the team could sign a wide receiver of note. What does that mean? Well, we're going to discuss it on today's episode. Locked on Broncos. And Broncos Country, thank you so much for making us your first listen of the day. If you're not already an everyday listener of the show, you can become one in just a couple of seconds.

All you got to do, hit subscribe if you're watching on YouTube. Hit the follow button if you're on Apple Podcast. However you listen to the show, we appreciate you so much for. taking a couple seconds to do that today to get this show out in front of everybody in Broncos country, Cody, because you know what? Every fan is going to want to know who's the wide receiver of note that the Broncos are signing and you know that you and I are going to be having a breaking news episode of the show whenever that does happen. If it happens, of course, there are seemingly conflicting reports out there in Broncos media country about whether or not the team is going to

go after a notable wide receiver this off season. Now, I would say, I'll set the bar here. here, Cody, and I want to get your thoughts. I would say that last year, Josh Reynolds being signed, he would not qualify, in my opinion, as a wide receiver of note. He was the fourth receiver in Detroit. I think wide receiver of note is a different category of player. Tell me if I'm wrong about that and tell me your thoughts. What do you think about wide receiver of note?

What does that mean for the Denver Broncos and free agency? Yeah, no, I agree with you. Like, I think you and I both called that Josh Reynolds signing last year, like very under the radar. Like, hey, like, this could be a very good move for them under the radar. You look at his production. You look at Jared Goff's like 11.3 quarterback rating when looking Reynolds way. That's great to have. Wide receiver of note is entirely different. When I hear that term, I think of a guy who's proven, who's already played big, has been a big name player in this league for quite some time and is a well-known name out there, right? So who is that be? You and I just did an episode last week where we

looked at three potential veteran receivers. These three guys, I think, would be wide receivers of note. I think former Los Angeles Charger wide receiver, Keenan Allen. That would certainly be a wide receiver of note to look to add to the mix. Former AFC West rival. Mike Williams, I think would be,

you know, an addition of note. He was considered to be a former number one receiver for the Chargers, you know, before he had the major injury that he had there. I feel like that would be a noteworthy wide receiver edition. You mentioned Amari Cooper. That would be a wide receiver of note as well.

I know some other names of Broncos countries put out on their wishless, like the Darius Slatens of the world. Certainly that would be a little bit of a needle mover here. That would be of note. But I don't necessarily think it's going to be someone that the Broncos are going to out there and spend $15 million per year on, right? So for me, it's a veteran option who's been in the league for quite some time that can still play.

And to be honest with you, look at it, it's Keenan Allen. It's Mike Williams or it's a Mari Cooper, like a push for them. And I even know Stefan Digg's name is one that could obviously be watched out. I just don't know if Diggs dynamic would be a locker room fit here for the Broncos based on everything that we've heard, everything that we've seen kind of transpire out in terms of reports from that locker when he was with Buffalo. Of note means that somebody that has had a big impact in the NFL before. That is, I think, the path in which Denver's going to go.

And that kind of aligns to here to the Broncos keeping Cortland Sutton. Like if they don't come to terms on an extension for this season, I do see something similar in how it played out with Garrett Bowles. And in season extension, very, very possible. If that's communicated to Sutton and his agent in good faith, maybe they add some incentive. and whatnot, but I think ultimately that probably happens in season before, you know, the sea or even before the season happens, but there's so many moving pieces that we have to figure out about that. I don't think even if Denver adds a wide receiver, no, it means anything on Cortland Sutton.

I know there's been a lot of speculation. I've seen some people come out there and say they don't think Sutton's going to be on the team. Why would that be the case? Why would the Broncos get rid of Bo Nix's top target? His favorite weapon, that would be roster malpractice in my opinion. and you get rid of his number one option, that doesn't make any sense. I understand you like the young guys that you have.

Those guys are obviously going to continue to step up and elevate, but getting rid of his best option, that doesn't make sense to me. I don't see that happening. And like I said, I think the narrative or the rumor and him potentially being traded, I think it's false. I don't think it's going to happen.

I don't think so either. I don't think we're going to see Sutton going anywhere this off season, to be honest with you. I mean, if that was the case, then the Broncos, I think would have been a bit more aggressive in going after somebody like a Debo

Samuel to be a veteran kind of floor raiser for that room. We know in previous years here, the Broncos have gone after the likes of Alan Lazard in free agency, Adam Thielen in free agency as well. That kind of stuff did get out of the building, Cody. I know not everything does get out of the building, but that stuff did. So we'll have to keep an eye on if maybe those two guys become available. Those two guys would potentially qualify as notable receiver additions, although it does sound like the jets are also considering cutting.

Devante Adams because nobody's going to be trading for his, I think, $38 million cap hit this year. So we'll see what Darren Moji does, not the easiest start to his general manager tenure there with the Jets. But yeah, I agree with you. A wide receiver of note is somebody that everybody's heard of, somebody who's going to be a needle mover, at least in terms of the name. And yeah, you're right with like a guy like Stefan Diggs. I think lots of Broncos fans would be excited about that.

I mean, that's a good. When I think wide receiver of note, Cody, I think of, hey, somebody's going to Photoshop this guy in the team's uniform. There's certain additions that get made to the team that you ain't getting photoshopped into the team's uniform. A notable wide receiver is getting photoshopped into the uniform because fans are going to be excited, even if it's just the brand name of the player. So Stefan Diggs, who has obviously connections to George Payton from their time in Minnesota

together could be interesting. But I totally agree. And we don't know who all is going to be cut as of yet. there was a report over the weekend from Rapsheet over at NFL Network that there's potential that if the Rams can't find a trade partner, that Cooper Cup would be cut as well. So that possibility exists. I would probably just throw a late round pick swap at them and get him in the building. But that's just me and I'm impatient about that kind of stuff.

But yes, wide receiver of note to me, somebody that we've heard of, somebody who's going to make an impact. And you need some variance, Cody. Let's get, we've got Sutton. We've got Devon, Vela, you've got. even like A.T. Perry, little Jordan Humphrey could come back. Let's get some variants out there. Let's get a good route runner, guy who can separate, maybe a guy with some speed as well.

I mean, I don't want to get too greedy here, but let's get somebody out there that can make some plays for Bo Nix and actually contribute to this team. Yeah, I was going to bring up Cooper Cup. I'm glad you did because I was just going to bring up the fact that rap sheet did report that. Hey, you may not even have to trade for him. The Broncos could go out and they could sign him if they want.

But I know the hang up a lot of that conversation was really, relative to his contract and who's going to take the bigger hit. And like, you know, is the team that's going to trade for him? Maybe while the Rams absorb the cap hit, the overall larger portion of his cap hit here for 2025, I think Cooper Cup would also be a wide receiver of note. I mean, this is a guy who was a former MVP consideration just a few years ago. Yeah, he's battled some high ankle springs as of late. But man, he's a guy that I think would instantly provide value here to Bo Nix

in this Broncos offense. It would move the needle for them. I think any of these guys that we've mentioned, that would, I think, be the ideal scenario, right? Wide receiver of note, if they're expected to sign it, okay, Mike, when can we expect them to sign? It's going to be day one of free agency, it's going to be day two. I know you and I on March 12th, we're going to be sitting here, and we might do three or four breaking news episodes in a day, kind of how we did, I think, last year or the year before, it's fun, Broncos country. So make sure you're in every day or so you never miss out on the fun that has had when the Bronco is they're making moves.

And right now, the future of the team is bright as is, can it get even brighter with their offseason additions? as well, a wide receiver of a note could certainly do just that here for this offense in 2025. But Broncos country, we're not done yet. We got a lot more to break down here as the Broncos maybe look a little bit deeper into some positions like safety. Could they look and find their joker in the free agency class of this year? We'll debate that much more here on today's episode, locked on Broncos. Is it going to be a joker, a running back, or a safety that the Broncos maybe make a big splash at here in NFL free agency outside of some of the other positions. we've already talked about. We'll break that down here on today's episode of show.

Thanks to all the everydayers first listeners out there on Broncos country. Once again, you make the show exactly what it is. Never fail to tune in because we got you every single day for every Broncos news content coverage analysis that you could get. This is the best place to get it. Nobody else is doing it the way that Sarah and I are doing. And we deliver that with 110% level of confidence. We appreciate you so much for rocking with us here.

Sarah, we've talked about obviously linebacker being a potential big splash spend, which could be in excess up to maybe. 14, 15 million dollars per year. I know we've weighed the pros and cons of that. Going into signing a wide receiver of note, not sure if that contract would necessarily look like potentially. But we do know that the Broncos have identified several other positions as needs that they can attack both in free agency and the NFL draft.

But our free agency focus is right now. First position there is that our good friend Mike Cliss also pinpointed that the Broncos are expected to sign a safety in free agency. And they like PJ Lock. They like Brandon Jones. They really like J.L. Skinner. And the belief inside the building is that J.L. Skinner is ready for a bigger role going forward. They like Devin Key, who's an exclusive rights-free agent.

They have yet to tender him as we were sitting down and talking about this. But they could go out there and sign of safety. And one name that has been talked about by Cliffs is that the Broncos do have interest in former Minnesota Viking safety can buy them. Yeah, who would obviously upgrade the safety room, but also the team's celebrations after turnovers defensively. The dude is out there choreographing dance moves for his team. He's so confident that they're going to force turnovers. But I would love that type of move, Cody. And I think that, look, yesterday on the podcast, you and I talked about how the Broncos kind of have hit the jackpot for the 2025 NFL draft, right?

I mean, things could not be more perfectly aligned. The stars have aligned. The needs that the Broncos have on their roster are set to be met by a deep group of running backs, tight ends, wide receivers, defensive linemen in this draft class. How do you allow yourself to indulge in the abundance of players in the NFL draft? Well, you've got to go get your needs taken care of in free agency that are, you know, the positions that are deep there, which would be linebacker, safety, and others. And so I've said this before and you noted it earlier.

Maybe we need T-shirts printed up that say roster malpractice on it because I feel like it would be complete and utter just roster malpractice, roster negligence. roster negligence for the Broncos not to sign a free agent safety out of this year's class. It's one of the best bang for your buck positions in NFL free agency every year. Supply is in no shortage this year. And there's never really super high demand. Like big name guys are getting cut every single season or off season rather by teams. And so I feel like safety has to be one of those positions where you're not going to be paying

a guy $12, $15 million a year to come in. You're talking about like six to 10 million if at max for a guy to come in on average annual value. I would say signing a safety is of paramount importance for the Denver Broncos so that they can enjoy the riches of this NFL draft class. Yeah. Look, I agree. And I think when you look at the opportunity cost of it, you always have to be measured.

Like what is our biggest need? Are we willing to take the risk of going out there and investing our biggest need in a rookie to come in and have the learning curve or going from the college game to the NFL game? to the NFL game. There are a lot of players that are cut out that can make that happen, right? But the idea and the thought process behind that is there's never always a guarantee that your rookie is going to be, they're going to pick it up like that. And all of a sudden plug and play like a seamless vet, like who's the last guy

really never drafted with a premier pick that was a plug and play guy right away? Pat Sertan, the NFL defensive player of the year this year. He was the one guy that when you put him out there on defense in his rookie season, he didn't look like a rookie. And you saw that early on in the preseason. you saw that throughout the regular season with all the guys that he went up against the big name guys, the Tyreek Hills, the Jamar Chase is so on and so forth, the Keenan Allen's, the Mike Williams, he did all that.

But it's like, okay, if you're looking at safety, I know you and I had this discussion as well. Like Denver going with a safety in round one would be just a wild pick, in my opinion, considering, you know, what they got with Brandon Jones. You know, you've got this developmental interest in J.L. Skinner, to me, that wouldn't move the needle. But you sign a guy, a veteran guy in free agency, let's say like a Cambine him, and you pair him, PJ Locke and Brandon Jones is your top three safety guys here in today's NFL that can do different things when you get into dime personnel, you know, whether you go with your coverage dime package, or if you go with your big nickel where you can put J.L. Skinner in as a potential dime backer in some of

those situations, I look at it and I just think that you can get a veteran guy or you can get a young upward developmental safety, like a Cam Bynum, not calling him a developmental player, but you bring him in. He can play alongside Brandon Jones while you continue to do. develop and get some of these other younger guys playing times in different packages. And if you don't believe in your younger guys behind them, you go out in the NFL draft and maybe you grab a guy that you feel like, hey, this guy's got some traits that we're impressed by. Let's see if it translates into something.

But to go out there and say, hey, this is a need. We need to starting safety. We're going to get in the NFL draft. I think it's a risky approach to take. And you have to be sure if you're going to do that, that it's going to pay off. So I think that I agree with you. Denver signs of safety in free agency that's going to come in and compete to start alongside Brandon Jones, not compete with Brandon.

probably compete with PJ a little bit at this point. And then obviously, you know, you're going to have competition. J.L. Skinner's probably going to be involved in that as well. And Devin Key, Keedron Smith, another name as well. You know, you got some other guys on your roster that are already developing. So I'm very curious to see that, how they approach that. But let's go to another position here. Right.

We talked about the Joker. I think deep in my heart of hearts, I believe that the Broncos are going to find or at least identify their Joker type candidate in the NFL draft, either at tight end or at running back. I think there's a few options out there. I don't see that being the case here in free agency. A lot of people have talked about Juan Johnson. I know Tony Pauline put a report there.

Anytime Tony Pauline says anything about the Denver Broncos, I always tell people like, hey, time out, pump the brakes a little bit. Tony said a lot of things about the Broncos for the last handful of years and none of it has ever been close to being true or even close. I think it's just, oh, Juan Johnson, free agent, played for the Saints. Okay, former tie there, Sean Payton, makes sense. There's going to be interest in there. The Broncos, I don't think, have gone out there and told anybody who they're interested in or what they're interested in, so to speak.

I think that's just a one plus one equals two type of connection. I don't think Joanne Johnson is a needle mover for what the Broncos need a tight in. Now, if Adam Trowman is not a roster, Sarah, okay, I would be fine with Joanne Johnson there. To me, and I see you, I saw you put this out there as well, and you and our agreements, I feel like signing a guy like Joanne Johnson would almost be the equivalent of signing Little Jordan Houton, which they can just do. I mean, they can just re-sign little Jordan for the veteran minimum. And I think Joanne would be an upgrade over the guys they have, you know, in the passing game for sure. I mean, there's no question about that.

He's proven more than the guys they have in the passing game. But as far as being a joker, I think you and I both feel like the Broncos are going to get their Joker in the NFL draft. And the way that Cliss, you know, so the post that he had, he kind of said possibly a punter and Joker from free agency. So the way that he put it on the back end there, I almost wonder if that's like a, it could be like a, you know, Taysam Hill type of veteran who's cut by somebody.

It's like, okay, you've got a joker in the mix, but it's not the joker that you're trying to get. And I know Broncos country is getting so tired of hearing that term. Just understand that's what it's called. That's what it's called. The team desperately needs a passing game weapon

at both running back and tied in. So call it what you want. They get kind of lumped into that. I don't think there's really many guys out there at running back in free agency that you would say, hey, this guy could be the Joker for Sean Payton. I don't know. I don't see that out there in free agency at either position.

Could the Broncos get somebody and could you go into the draft saying, hey, this guy, if the Broncos miss out on all their targets at running back and tight end, like this guy could be it. Maybe that guy is like a Mike Gisicki type of player or something. I don't know. I have no idea. But there's going to be options out there, Cody. They also talked about or Cliss also talked about in the article backup quarterback and

punter. We're not going to be, you know, losing too much sleep over those situations. I think if the Broncos sign another punter, it's because Darren Rizzy watched Riley Dixon's film and thought it's not good enough. We need to get better there. So that would be fine with me. But backup quarterback, kind of hope one of those guys that you know can come back. It's easier to maybe identify how you're going to approach backup QB than anything.

You want to look at guys who know your system. And I think Zach Wilson's probably the ideal candidate is you and I have broken down here on the show so many times. I think it will be Zach Wilson re-signing in Denver on a two-year deal, probably worth up to $10 million to B-Bonex's backup. And look, obviously, you know, if there's a demand in the NFL this upcoming season by the trade deadline, certainly you can do certain things. Denver could add a quarterback to their practice squad.

I mean, I know other teams have taken that approach. I just don't see them carrying Jared Stidham and Zach Wilson again on the same exact roster. But maybe they could. As long as Davis Webb and Sean Payton are here, if they believe there was value in that. Sean Payton has said that room was very valuable. Maybe it does happen. Maybe they run it back with that, but both those guys come back on a one-year deal instead of one guy getting a two-year deal.

That could be how Denver bounces out their roster. All the gymnastics you have to play there. It's crazy. I don't envy Sean Payton or George Payton or even Richard Tato to manage, like, how are you going to deal with the cap stuff? How are you going to structure the deals? Those guys have a hard job enough as is. And luckily, you and I say we're going to sit here.

We get to break down the news and the moves, obviously, as they happen, share our insight, probes, cons, all that stuff here with Broncos country. I think you and I have a pretty good gig here on lockdown Broncos. But with that said, Broncos country, that'll wrap up today's episode of the show. For all you every dayers out there, here's what you can expect on tomorrow's episode of lockdown Broncos. We're going to go through an NFL free agency preview. We're going to talk about must-have player names, dream scenario for the Broncos, and players that they should avoid in free agency.

You'll get all that and much more on tomorrow's episode of the show.