Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Have MAJOR Free Agency Date Coming Up

Starting point is 00:00:00 The free agency activity everybody in Broncos country has been waiting for may be just around the corner. You are locked on Broncos. Your daily Denver Broncos podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Broncos country, the NFL draft is just about two weeks away, but it feels like it's been a bit of a long offseason. Of course, the Jalen Waddle blockbuster trade pacified all of us, giving us the big, news that everybody in Broncos country have been waiting for, but this team resigned 17 of its own 21 free agents, the only outside free agent coming in being safety Tyson Anderson, who

Starting point is 00:00:46 upgrades the special teams unit as a PJ lock potential replacement for the Denver Broncos. But what if I told you that the free agency activity that we've all been waiting for is just around the corner. And one key date proves exactly that. We're going to talk about that on today's episode of the show as well as what needs, honestly, does this team really have going into the draft and then coming out of the draft that they would want to add veteran players or maybe take a swing on a trade, which I think they could do in the draft this year. I'm going to talk about some previous years where maybe you connect the dots and you could see a trade for a veteran player using some late round draft capital or future draft capital could make sense for

Starting point is 00:01:26 the Broncos in 2026. But thanks so much to all of you out there that make lockdown Broncos, your first listen of the day every single day. Shout out to all of you. We appreciate you every day. My name is Sarah Bedinger and I'm the co-hosts here of Lockdown Broncos as well as the site expert of predominantly orange. And maybe like you, this is kind of my favorite time of the year. I love the offseason.

Starting point is 00:01:47 I love team building. I love kind of dreaming about the hypotheticals. What could the depth chart look like? What could the roster look like? How could the team build towards the future? What kind of prospects could impact this team's chances of competing for a Super Bowl? because I think we all believe this is a very, very good roster. I mean, made it to the AFC championship game, hosted the AFC championship game, quite frankly,

Starting point is 00:02:09 and should have probably won that game if they had a healthy Bo Nix. And so you believe that this is a roster good enough to get over that hump, but then you add Jalen Waddle and how you start to think, okay, man, could they be favorites to potentially represent the AFC this coming season? And regardless of all that talk and hyperbole, preseason predictions, things like, that you want to put the best possible team out there you want to have not only a great starting roster but you want to have great depth all from one to 53 and great competition from one to 90 all throughout the off season but the broncos have not utilized free agency to do that this year and

Starting point is 00:02:48 there's a good reason why and i know that i've been as critical as anybody and i continue to believe the things that i had said previously that i wanted this team to be aggressive in adding impact players And like I said, Jalen Waddle is that. I mean, he's representative of exactly what I've wanted this team to do. But I think you could make arguments that did the team with in free agency a little bit. Should they have gone after tight ends? Should they have gone after linebackers? Should they have gone after a veteran running back to compliment J.K. Dobbins?

Starting point is 00:03:19 I think those are all valid questions. But here's this key date that I mentioned. The key date is April 27th. That's a Monday. So Monday, April 27th. the Monday after the 2026 NFL draft. And what this date represents is the cutoff for free agents to count towards next year's compensatory pick formula.

Starting point is 00:03:41 So here's where we're going with this. The Broncos, obviously, they're in line to get a fourth round compensatory pick in 27 for John Franklin Myers, who left for a big money deal with the Tennessee Titans. They're also currently in line, according to over the cap, to get a potential seventh round compensatory pick for losing PJ Locke to the Dallas Cowboys. It appears as though the Broncos and plenty of other teams. And by plenty of other teams, I'm not talking about just bad teams. I'm talking about the Green Bay Packers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Jacksonville Jaguars,

Starting point is 00:04:15 contending teams from last season have taken the exact same approach and frankly, have lost more than the Denver Broncos. I mean, just think about, let's talk about the Jacksonville Jaguars, for instance. They lose running back Travis A. Chan in free agency. They lose Devin Lloyd in free agency. Those are big, big losses for that team. And essentially, they've done nothing to replace them. Why?

Starting point is 00:04:38 Because they are protecting those 2027 compensatory draft picks. And the Broncos have taken a similar approach. And they've been public about not really loving this year's free agency class. And so that's fair. I mean, if that's the way the Broncos pro scouting department evaluated this class, totally fair, totally understandable. We move on to the NFL draft. And now you've got the opportunity here for this post-draft free agency.

Starting point is 00:05:07 I know Sean Payton doesn't like the word frenzy, but you have the opportunity now for a little bit of a, you know, part two of NFL free agency. And this could get interesting because I think a lot of teams are going to be looking to kind of fill the gaps after the NFL draft. And that's not entirely uncommon. but what is uncommon is if you kind of look at the free agents that are still available right now and some of the names that the Broncos could consider potentially, you know, there's some big names still out there in free agency.

Starting point is 00:05:37 I mean, we talked about in the first couple of waves, I mean, guy like David Njoku, it's kind of surprising to see that he's still out there. Joanne Jennings, I'm not saying he'd be a fit for the Broncos now, but I mean, it's kind of surprising that he's still out there. Debo Samuel, another wide receiver, still out there. So you can go through all sorts of different positions and see names that, man, it's kind of surprising that these players are still available at this stage of the offseason. I think it could make for a very interesting free agency, quote unquote, frenzy on April 27th or I guess after April 27th. It's kind of going to start at that 3 p.m. Central time or 2 p.m. mountain time slot there when the deadline passes.

Starting point is 00:06:21 But because these free agents no longer count against the compensatory pick formula, it allows these teams that have been preserving those future draft picks. And honestly, a fourth round pick is a really good pick for the Broncos. And they don't want to pass that up. And I get that. So you're basically saying you traded John Franklin Myers for a fourth round pick. You essentially traded PJ Locke for a seventh round pick. And those picks can be used in a variety of different ways, as I think we might see in the

Starting point is 00:06:50 2026 NFL draft. But that is a huge date to be paying attention to because after that point, Broncos can look at some of these unrestricted free agents who were not cut, who do count against the compensatory formula. They can now look to start adding those types of players without it affecting that fourth or even that seventh round pick in next year's draft. So the Broncos have been trying to preserve that. Now that we've waited this long, it's like you might as well stick it out, right?

Starting point is 00:07:18 because you're just barely over two weeks away from having, you know, kind of crossing that finish line and keeping that discipline. So it's not just the Broncos, right? It's other contending teams that are doing this. That key date right there could be the date in which we see the Broncos start to add more outside free agents. And both George Payton and Sean Payton actually hinted at that, right? George specifically talked about looking after the draft at even the running back

Starting point is 00:07:43 position where I know I've talked about it before, but Najee Harris continues to make sense to. me as a third running back for this team if he's willing to take on that role. But also we'll kind of see what happens in the NFL draft. Maybe the Broncos get somebody in the draft that they feel can fill that role. So it might not just be at the running back position. And Sean Payton hinted at this when he said, you know, let's talk at the end of, he said, let's call it June when it comes to the roster and filling these gaps and free agency and the disappointment of the fan base. And he acknowledged like he's heard all that stuff. But ultimately, this is a,

Starting point is 00:08:18 process and you know what patience is what they're preaching so patience is is what we got to exhibit that's what we got to have right so what could the broncos be looking at and what about the draft for veteran trades i think that there's a good chance this could be a draft class where the broncos look at potentially using a late round pick or future late round picks to go after some veteran players in the draft we'll talk about that coming up on today's episode lockdown broncos this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Financial stress is something a lot of people are carrying right now, and it's not just about numbers. It can affect your sleep, your relationships, and your overall mental health in ways that build up over time. And the reality is, struggling with money doesn't

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Starting point is 00:10:00 And a couple of previous classes might be our indicators as to why. So before we talk about that, I want to talk about what needs does this team actually still have. Well, we've talked about all offseason how depth that running back, a future starter option at tight end and future starting options at lineback. kind of remain this team's top areas of need. Wonder how much Jonah Ellis playing linebacker factors into that. You kind of hope that the Broncos won't forsake some of the top linebacker prospects in this draft just because of that.

Starting point is 00:10:32 But at the same time, got to be prepared in case that does happen. I think also offensive and defensive line, maybe safety kind of hanging out in that realm somewhere. To me, there's a number of areas that this team still needs to address that I don't think they obviously now with the Jalen Waddle trade taking your first round pick and your third round pick off the board, I don't necessarily think that they have the draft capital to be able to adequately fill out the depth on this roster properly. And I want to go back to the 2023 offseason, a 2024 off season when the Broncos made a couple of in-draft trades to acquire veteran players that honestly felt like they made their draft classes complete, right? because 2023, you were missing your first round pick. It was the new era for Sean Peyton.

Starting point is 00:11:22 And the Broncos just didn't have enough draft capital to be able to address all their needs. So when they sent a sixth round pick to the New Orleans Saints for Adam Troutman, I know everybody's got opinions about Troutman right now. But when that happened, honestly, it kind of felt like it rounded out that draft class super well because you got somebody with a sixth round pick who was actually going to be a like starter for you, contribute for you in a significant way. And so that felt like it just sort of, you took what felt like it couldn't be complete in that particular draft class and it kind of just rounded everything out.

Starting point is 00:11:57 And the same was true in 2024 where the ultimate goal was getting a quarterback and the Broncos took Bo Nicks, 12th overall, highly controversial pick. But they still had other areas they had to address in that class. And it just didn't feel like they had all the darts to be able to throw at every position of need. So what do they do? They swing a trade for John Franklin Myers. Now all of a sudden, it felt like that draft class went from being, okay, we got the quarterback, but did we get anybody else who's going to contribute right away? Now you've got John Franklin Myers in the mix. Now, all of a sudden, every other pick in that draft felt like it meant something more, felt like

Starting point is 00:12:36 just a complete class. And I know the Broncos had a good draft in 2024. They brought in, I mean, Jonah Ellis, Troy Franklin. They had a couple of later round picks that they really liked. that John Franklin Myers trade, however, it really solidified that overall draft process as saying, okay, yeah, we got our QB of the future potentially, but we brought in also a guy who upgrades our defensive line significantly, and we did it at a, you know, just a late round cost. I mean, does anybody, is anybody right now missing whatever picks the Broncos traded

Starting point is 00:13:07 for John Franklin Myers? I don't think so. So I could really see this team just, the NFL draft is funny. You see these trades happen pretty frequently, at least a couple every single year during the draft. Veterans get traded, picks move hands, things like that. I could see the Broncos going after one of those running back,

Starting point is 00:13:29 tight end, linebacker, defensive line, maybe even offensive line. I could see them going after one of those areas of need with a late round pick or a future pick swap or something like that. And I'll throw out a, a name here because the Broncos have already previously looked into trading for this guy. But Luke Musgrave, a former second round pick who is now entering, I believe, a contract year for the Green Bay Packers. Time flies out. He was part of the 2023 NFL draft class. The Broncos

Starting point is 00:13:58 really liked him. And frankly, the fact that they didn't get him in that draft was part of the reason why they ended up trading for Adam Troutman. So now you made that attempt last season to get Muskrave, Tucker Kraft gets hurt, the Packers are no longer trading Luke Musgrave. Maybe this year, during the draft, they would take a late round pick for Luke Musgrave or a future late round pick for Luke Musgrave. And you can swing a trade like that, just like the Broncos have in the past. And I wouldn't be surprised if something like that does happen. Or maybe there's a defensive lineman out there, like a similar situation of John Franklin

Starting point is 00:14:35 Myers, where the Broncos can bring somebody in who's going to play well above whatever the draft pick value is that they give up in exchange you're always bargain hunting when with these draft pick trades so i'm not saying the broncos are going to go out there and make a blockbuster swing for some player at you know during the NFL draft but i'm saying that they could swap a late round pick or a couple of late round picks in the future for somebody during this year's draft and i think this year's draft is lining up to be similar to 2023 and 24 because you are missing some of that draft capital, it just kind of feels like you want to elevate the overall quality of this class by swapping a late pick for somebody. So I mean, the Broncos have the cap space to be able to do

Starting point is 00:15:20 it. They've never, they're trying to get a future fourth and seventh round pick to add to their war chest in the future. I just think that there's a decent chance this could happen. So we'll come back to this bonus episode of the show at some point if it does happen. But free agency for the Denver Broncos could begin starting April 27th. We'll kind of see. What happens there as compensatory picks no longer in jeopardy at that point. So after the draft and the Broncos don't begin their offseason program until May the fourth, Happy Star Wars Day in advance to everybody. But they don't begin their offseason program until then.

Starting point is 00:15:55 So you have an opportunity then to add players to the roster who won't miss a single bit of your offseason program. That's exciting. And I think that the Broncos will look into doing this. I mean, there's been rumors that they've been interested in running backs. There's been rumors about interest in tight ends and other positions. So I think that we're shaping up for it. Maybe it's been a little bit of a boring off season other than the Jalen Wattle trade up to this point.

Starting point is 00:16:21 But Broncos country, that might ramp up here with the NFL draft kind of kicking things off. And then the Broncos filling the gaps in free agency. And honestly, that sets them up perfectly to get great value for these. No pun intended. That was totally unintentional. But to get great value from these free agents as well as getting. guys to not fill needs and prevent them from drafting players who, you know, they might pass on other guys in the draft because you sign somebody in free agency.

Starting point is 00:16:48 I kind of like the idea of starting with the draft and then filling those gaps on a roster like this. That's so good. That's Super Bowl quality filling the gaps in free agency and with some veteran trades. So the approach hasn't been popular, including, you know, present company. And so I'm just now that we've waited this long, it's like, let's continue. to wait it out Broncos country. So we could see some big time activity from the team,

Starting point is 00:17:13 free agency, the draft, trades. I think it's all still yet to come here in Broncos country. But we appreciate you so much for tuning in today and every day. We'll catch you on the next episode of the show.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Have MAJOR Free Agency Date Coming Up

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