Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Moving On From Jarrett Stidham, Javonte Williams in NFL Free Agency?

Episode Date: February 19, 2025

The Denver Broncos are trending towards losing several players in NFL Free Agency by potentially letting Jarrett Stidham and Javonte Williams walk. Is Zach Wilson the more likely choice to backup Bo Nix for Sean Payton? Why is the Broncos values of the RB position changing in 2025 and will Payton move on from some of his favorite players like Michael Burton and Lil'Jordan Humphrey? 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!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.

With NFL free agency right around the corner, the Denver Broncos have several players who are trending towards not returning this upcoming season. We'll highlight them and much more on today's brand new episode, Locked on 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 for all your Broncos news, content coverage analysis, and more. You get it here every single day. Thank you to all the every dayers out there who make us your first listen of the day.

However, you choose to do so. I'm Cody Roak, Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. Join, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com. And look, Broncos country, we've got a jam-packed episode for you here on today's show. We're going to wrap things up by talking about Will Sean Payton bring back some of his guys that he has some favoritism towards in free agency. We'll also take a look at maybe why Giovante Williams is trending towards not returning here in free agency.

More importantly, we're going to kick things off by highlighting the backup quarterback position. Denver's got two free agents at this position. Which one's more unlikely to stay? Which one's more than likely to leave? We'll break all that down here today. Broncos country. I mean, Sarah, really just kickstarting it off. There's a lot of conversations happening on social media,

especially as NFL free agency approaches for those who do not know, March 12th, 4 o'clock p.m. Eastern time, which is 2 o'clock p.m. Mountain time is when the new league year officially begins, though, a couple days prior to that, you have the legal tampering period where we know some deals will get announced necessarily, but won't be official until the new league year rolls around. And between now and then, there could be some trades or things that happen that go into effect on those days. So a lot to break down here. But Sarah, let's talk about backup quarterback because I don't think this has been talked about enough so far in the offseason. I know everyone.

Everyone's already focused on mock drafts. They're focused on the Joker, but nobody has talked about the Broncos backup quarterback situation. Two QBs they have on the roster in 2024 set to become free agents. We already know Bo Nix. He's the franchise, but who's going to be backing him up this upcoming season? It's kind of nice that we haven't really had to talk much about the quarterback position this offseason, right?

Cody, I mean, other than, you know, having Bo Nix's back after a historic rookie year. But, yeah, Jared Stidham and Zach Wilson both set for. unrestricted free agency. Jared Stidham obviously signed a two-year deal with the Broncos back in 2023, two years 10 million, made some good money as the backup for the Denver Broncos and also got a couple opportunities to play. Zach Wilson, really a reclamation project for Sean Peyton, which has become a popular thing for him to do throughout the course of his head coaching career.

Of course, I think Drew Breeze, to an extent, was a reclamation guy, you know, get kind of dumped by the Chargers back in the day. And I think maybe more coveted than Zach Wilson at that point. But then you have guys like Teddy Bridgewater, James Winston and others that Sean Peyton has worked with where he said last off season, like my job is to make you, Zach Wilson, millions. And that's what the Broncos want to do. So I love that they're taking this approach to adding young guys to the quarterback

room to try and develop these guys because we know in the NFL, quarterbacks are currency. And when you can find guys who can perform well in your system, you benefit no matter what, whether these guys leave in free agency and sign, you know, for big money deals that helps your compensatory formula. Maybe you can trade a guy,

whatever it may be. But I think the Broncos, Cody, are now in an interesting spot being that both of these guys are hitting free agency at the same time. Yeah, and I think when you look at where Denver's at with their quarterback situation going forward,

you know, if you have to look at it between, okay, hey, do you re-sign Jared Stidham? Do you resign Zach Wilson? And I think you and I've been very adamant as to like where we would go. And that would be us resigning Zach Wilson to a deal to be the backup here to Bo Neck. Strictly because I think when you try to replicate, you know, your starting quarterback in a sense,

it's very hard in today's NFL to do that. Like obviously Carson Wentz is nothing like Patrick Mahomes when you look at Kansas City situation. But, you know, you look at some scenarios around the NFL and you want to at least have a quarterback who has similar traits to your starter. because if your starter goes down, obviously your offense is going to change significantly, but you don't want as large of a drop off if that were to happen, right? And so I look at Zach Wilson and he's got the traits that are very similar to Bo Nix. He's got a big arm. He's got the athleticism there.

And now can he reel it in in Sean Payton system where I think that there's been a lot of momentum trending towards Zach Wilson being the perfect backup quarterback here behind Bo Nix. And part of me feels like Sean Payton also thinks the same. Now, obviously NFL free agency is going to be very different unless they come to terms, you know, on an extension now with them. I mean, they certainly can. I know that the Broncos last year announced a little bit of an extension for PJ Locke before things even began in free agency or they brought back, what was it? They re-signed Jonas Griffith to a one-year deal before free agency even began. So I look at Jared Stidham.

I look at Zach Wilson. And I just think that Zach has the trait factor that matches more with Bo Nix than Jerry. Stidham, and that's not a shot of Jarrett Stidham. Jared Stidham, I think, is a very quality capable backup quarterback in this league. But I don't see Sean Payton carrying three QBs on the 53 once again this year. And I want to go back to the point of you mentioned Jarstitam's contract, the two-year $10 million contract he signed initially to backup Russell Wilson. Well, part of me is also thinking that was a reason why Zach Wilson wasn't necessarily

the backup to Bo Nix last year because of the fact that Jerr-Sidum had a $5 million price tag, Whereas Zach Wilson, he had a one, I think it was like a $1.05 million roster bonus plus a like a base salary of like one one million something dollars along those lines because the New York Jets obviously ate a good portion of his contract when they traded him to Denver. So for me, everything kind of points here to Zach Wilson and nobody's talking about it enough because Sarah, I mean, do you see Denver looking at the free agency market at QB to say, hey, these are the guys who want to bring in as a backup? I know we've thrown out names like, you know, you can look at Teddy Bridgewater if you wanted to, or even James Winston, to me, it doesn't make sense necessarily to go with an older guy right now. I think Zach Wilson, young, similar trait set to Bo Nix. I think that's where you have to go if you want to maintain status quo offensively. I think so too.

And I really feel like both of these guys have to be certain that they're going to get a starting opportunity if they leave Denver. Because your value is kind of just inherently going up by nature of the position. that you play, right? And the fact that we're seeing other guys around the league like Sam Darnold, Gino Smith, Baker Mayfield, they're really having success later in their careers once they get into better situations. And so I feel like these guys have every right and every reason to hold out for the best possible situation.

Like, I don't know that I'd go sign with the Titans just on a whim right now, Cody. I don't know if I would do that if I was one of these two guys. But at the same time, it's kind of like if you get offered a head coach. and gig in the NFL as a coordinator. Do you pass on the opportunity when it's presented because you never know when your next opportunity is going to come? Just ask, you know, certain, how many coordinators have been the red hot candidates over the last couple of years?

Wasn't Bobby Sloick getting interviewed last year at this time? And now he was fired by the Houston Texans this year. So life comes at you fast in the NFL. But there's every reason for these guys to still be patient. And that's why I feel like the Broncos do have a better chance of bringing back Zach Wilson because he's only 25 as of this past year. Jared Stidham getting closer and closer to 30, he's going to want to take advantage of those opportunities when they come along, whereas Wilson, he's not running out of opportunities

anytime soon. Well, let's take a look at estimated market value for both of these guys, according to our friends over there at Spot Track for Jared Stidham. The current estimated market value for him is a one year, $2.6 million deal in terms of that's where a team is going to take a flyer on him, essentially. Whereas Zach Wilson, his market value, value, a one year $3.3 million deal there. And so part of me is wondering, I mean, of course you could bring back Jared Stidham,

you know, and you can have him back at it, you know, maybe a cheaper rate if that's his estimated market value. And I don't know how much teams really look at like, okay, this is our estimated market value. We're going to offer this. I think it's more so about, okay, how do you build? Not only do you have good starters, but do you have good depth? And look, I think that's where I think people would be excited.

I think Broncos country for the most part, there is a good portion of fans. And there was a fan here, obviously, who would comment on our show all the time saying that Zach Wilson should be the starter in Denver. Obviously, that's not the case. But all signs point to Zach Wilson being probably the best fit here if you are going to address backup quarterback, re-sign him and bring him back into the mix here with Davis Webb, Sean Payton, and Bo Nix. And obviously, maybe the Broncos bring in a guy, you know, late in the NFL draft or even maybe as an undrafted rookie free agent to be a potential practice squad quarterback. back. I think so much depends on the market. Obviously, Jared Stidham was, you know, he expressed his visible frustration.

He believed he should have been the starter for the Broncos early on. But obviously, while being respectful with the competition with Bo Nix, that just wasn't in the cards necessarily there. And he would have had a very short leash if he was named the starter early on because any mistake he would have made, fans would have been booing him and been calling for Bo Nix. So John Payton avoided that whole thing. Bo Nix obviously proved that he deserved to be the starter here and has become the Broncos franchise. But who's going to back him up this season? Broncos country.

Make sure you share your thoughts with us here on today's episode of Locked on Broncos on the backup quarterback situation here. But as we look at some other players who are turning towards not returning in NFL free agency, Javante Williams is one of the bigger names here for the Broncos at the running back position that will not more than likely be back in 2025. We'll break down why here on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by friends over there at Turbo Tax. This is a message from our sponsor, Intuit TurboTax. And Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back and then waiting, wondering, and worrying some more.

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See guarantee details at turbotax.com slash guarantees. It's probably only a matter of time at this point that the Denver Broncos and Giovante Williams part ways, but why are the Denver Broncos moving on from their former second round pick? Well, Cody and I were going to talk about exactly why that could be here in the next handful of days at this point because we are days away from free agency, Broncos country. As Cody pointed out, the festivities will begin with the legal tampering period on March 10th. So you don't have much longer to wait here as the rumor mill will continue to heat up and you'll want to tune into lockdown Broncos every single day. If you aren't already doing

And shout out to all the everydayers already. If you're not an everyday listener, hey, become one. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube and join the discussion there. Let's talk about Javante Williams, Cody, because I think what would be shocking at this point is if the Broncos did bring him back. Because I don't think anybody believes that's going to happen. Now, the writing seems to be on the wall. And I think we saw this past season. I mean, there were games where Javante was getting one carry.

two carries, maybe sometimes less than that. I mean, it seemed like they were almost trying to phase him out, but then he would have the occasional big game as well. So given the way things have gone the first two years of the Sean Peyton era, why would you say Javante Williams is one of the most likely, as we look at this list. I mean, he's probably the most likely free agent to leave in 2025, at least from what I can see.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's all because Sean Payton is trying to find his next joker, whether that's at tight end or running back. I mean, it definitely puts Javante's future here with the team up in the air a little bit. And I also think, too, you know, Sean, I think Sean's approach with Javante, you know, Sean definitely didn't try to rush him back, you know, in 2023 when he first took over. Like, we were all wondering if it was going to be, you know, maybe if he's going to start the season on the PUP list necessarily, come to find out we're out there for our first day of training camp. And even the Broncos official website posted out there that they weren't sure whether or not Javante was going to

to be out. Day one, we go out there, Javante's in a helmet. You know, he's moving around. Like, he attacked his rehab vigorously. And, you know, part of me wonders, like, did he rush it back? You know, he didn't have necessarily the most effective season coming off of the injury. But for him to do what he was able to do coming off that major knee injury in 2022, I felt like, all right, hey, there's room for Grace here for Javante. Look, we saw some hesitation and we saw, you know, maybe him not seeing the hole at times or him double thinking it. But the one thing I would say is that that carried over here into 2024. You know, with him coming out and obviously losing 10 pounds in the off season,

we started to see his role diminished a little bit. And obviously with Denver going and getting a running back in the NFL draft, part of us, that was kind of like a riding on the wall. Like, hey, this is kind of putting Giovante Williams on notice. And down the stretch, Javante's role kind of diminished a little bit outside of passing situations here. So for me, I look at free agency and I look at where Denver's at. The run game hasn't been good enough. And that tells me that this is where a change is going to have.

happen. And more than likely, it means that Javante will not be back here with the Broncos. And look, I would say it's the frustrating nature of the game, right? When we look at the running back position, we look at the miles that these guys really kind of put on their bodies, the physicality that they absorb in a season. And you look at his injury. What happened to Javante was not his fault. And it definitely altered the trajectory, I think, of his career coming off of that major knee injury there. You know, the moment you have something like that at running back. A lot of people look at you and like, ah, he's never going to be the same. And certainly there were some evident, you know, I'd say physical things that show him that, hey, maybe he's not the

same player yet. Maybe he can get back there. But unfortunately, that derailed his trajectory, I feel like with the Broncos. And, you know, unfortunately in this business, how the NFL is, teams look at that. They look to go elsewhere. They look to go younger. And this is one of those positions I feel like is now getting churned out. Unless you're like the Derek Henry's of the world or Saquan Barkleys, the shelf life of this position and for guys playing it to stay with one team for quite some time, it's not as likely. And I think those are the signs as to why Giovante is not going to be there. And look, even though he lost 10 pounds there, he didn't even come close to even last year,

like 2023's numbers. And in 2023, he just barely scratched over a thousand all-purpose yards. This year, I think he was like 800 something at that point. So he just wasn't the same effective guy that we had seen as a rookie. and that's unfortunate, but I will say this, if free agency goes on and he doesn't necessarily have a strong market, he doesn't land anywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to bring him back on a one-year deal,

but he wouldn't obviously be a guy that I think is heavily featured in the offense anymore. I don't think so either. And a lot of folks have had the opinion over the last couple of years that, well, the reason why Giovante hasn't been able to put anything together is because Sean Payton doesn't stick with anybody for any period of time. And to that, I would say, I don't think he's given any reason to stick with that, what we're seeing when he's out there on the field. I mean, it's been super frustrating.

Even when he gets the ball in space, we're not seeing him create offense. That's the problem. If you're a featured running back in an NFL offense, you have to be able to create offense. And Javante's calling card coming out of North Carolina was yardage after contact, breaking tackles, physicality. We haven't been seeing that the last couple of years. Now, again, the injury derailed things. We're not trying to be overly critical without adding context, obviously. But for me, Cody, I just don't think you can plan every single week to say,

hey, Javante is going to be having, you know, 25 to 40 snaps a week. And this is what we're getting. I mean, there's got to be more dynamic play. We saw a team like the Buccaneers added fourth round rookie, Bucky Irving, and he ended up having a huge season. So you have to find guys that can give you that. explosive element because I remember talking with the buck locked on bucks James Yarko at the beginning of the year he's like the O lines not getting pushed in the running

game the running game stinks we have no running game going and that was week three and then Irving still had that tremendous season so yeah that to me is an indicator that you need the right playmakers back there because McLaughlin had some big games for the Broncos estimate him in against Kansas City had a great game I mean guys had good games at times but man is it run scheme? Is it the running back? Is it a combination? I mean, to me, I would say two year sample size has given us an indicator that maybe Javante is kind of the common denominator. Yeah. And I would say that you got other guys on your roster. Like you mentioned Jalil who's obviously, you know, very, Sean Peyton loves what Jalil can do. You got Adrick Esmey who showed

the flashes. You've got Tyler Badegh who showed flashes here and there. He'll more likely be back and competing in training camp. And then you got undrafted the rookie Frasian Blake Watson, who, you know, our first action has seen Blake Watson against the Chargers was like, hey, okay, you can see some of the springiness and maybe some of that little pizzazz there that Blake has. So are the Broncos comfortable staying in-house with these younger guys? Like, you know, I think when you're looking to establish opportunities for guys, the biggest issue for Sean last year was, I don't feel like he, like, I think it was a feelings thing. Like he didn't want to hurt someone's feelings, but like constantly changing up the running back rotation, it created this lack of rhythm within the run game.

on the offensive side of the ball. And obviously, Javonte did at one point towards the end of the season say that it was very disheartening, very discouraging that, you know, his role kind of diminished a little bit, though he'd come in in and passing situations because of his, I think, really good pass-blocking skills. But to me, it just wasn't enough to push the Broncos over the edge. And I think the run game is something that really hurt the offense and has really, I think, impacted the narrative, which I think goes to show.

It supports what we said about Bo Nix's historic rookie season. The fact that Denver didn't have a good run game, and for Bo to do what he was able to do, just makes things a little bit more exciting, I think, for if they can actually get the run game in place and maybe add a couple of other pieces. But all signs point towards Javante not returning here for the Broncos in 2025. And look, I think it stinks.

Once again, like I've been a huge fan of Javante Williams, just a great human being, a great teammate inside that locker room. It's just unfortunate that, you know, an injury and things like that can really kind of define a little bit of that narrative. But now I think he's going to get an opportunity. And I hope he does to go somewhere else, have success, ball out, and maybe kind of rewrite it for him. I mean, you've seen it happen all the time with certain guys.

I'm hoping that for Javante, that's going to be the case, but it probably is not going to be here with Denver. But with that said, Broncos Country, we want to know your thoughts on Javante Williams' future here with the organization. But up next, we're not done yet, Broncos Country. We've got a lot to break down, including whether or not Sean Payton will look to bring back some of his guys. He's got two of his favorites that he continues to coach. And he's coached in New Orleans that are set to be free agents. will he bring those guys back?

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As we jump on the fourth core action on today's episode of the show, Broncos country, we're going to talk about whether or not Sean Payton is going to bring back his guys in NFL Free Agency here in March 12th when the free agency frenzy begins. Also, we'll have you covered every step of the way throughout free agency, the NFL draft, OTAs, and so much more here on Lockdown Broncos. And you're going to get that. If you're an every day or if you're not in any, every day or already become one so you never miss out on what's going on with your favorite team from

every angle. This is the best Broncos podcast that is out there here. So Sarah, let's continue on with this conversation. Free agency is we're focusing on the theme of guys who we think will not return here in 2025. We've talked about Jared Stidham. We've talked about Javonte Williams. There are a couple of Sean Payton guys that, you know, Sean has an affinity for. And if you ask him every week in the media about these players, he's going to say, well, you know what you're getting when you get these guys and you know it's kind of that cliche thing and obviously i think there's a trust factor there you want to bring in guys that you trust as a coach i understand that but i felt like at some points last year it was a little bit to a fault now there's two guys and i don't think this really

applied with michael burton the fullback but little jordan humphrey a name that we have to talk about here on today's episode of the show it seemed like at times like little jordan he does the dirty work plays special teams for you a good perimeter blocker and can make a couple of catches for you here and there but with Denver's younger receivers that were kind of rising up and and we've felt like needed a little bit more opportunity on the field last season. It seemed like he kind of got in the way of that a little bit because of Sean's trust factor in knowing what you're getting with a guy like Low Jordan Humphrey. Between Michael Burton, LJ, who do you think is trending towards most likely not being back?

Well, I think basically due to age, I would say Michael Burton could easily be replaced. I mean, you threw out the idea a couple of shows ago about Adam Prentice, who's a free agent of the New Orleans Saints. I think that would be a young alternative with a guy who plays special teams for Darren Rizzy. So I would kind of err on the side of Burton, maybe being the one that's not back because it does feel like Lil Jordan Humphrey

is the apple of Sean Payton's eye. And I don't know exactly, I think it is just the dirty work like you mentioned, Cody, because when you say, well, we know what we're getting with Lil Jordan Humphrey, yeah, the cynical jerk in me wants to be like, yeah, you're getting at least a drop or a fumble. every time you try to feature him in the offense,

which is unfortunate because they seemed to happen at the worst possible times. And to his credit, Little Jordan made some plays. And I will say that for a guy that's, you know, not nobody was trying to poach him off waivers when the Broncos sent him to the waiver wire and put him on the practice squad before the start of the last couple of seasons. For somebody like that, he's produced pretty well.

I mean, if you're grading on the curve of guys that, you know, start the year on the practice squad, like Will Jordan Humphrey is pretty darned. and good. But when you're talking about taking snaps from other players or how frustrated fans were to see him dropping passes early in the year and Tim Patrick having success in his limited role, I know that's become a hot take debate as well. And I'm not trying to refire those things up. But what I am saying is that the same thing that I said during week one, during the games,

when you're frustrated and you're like, you know, angry tweeting or whatever, I'm like, why have Lil Jordan Humphrey on the field getting intentional targets and like purposefully, like you're throwing him bubble screens. You're, you're drawing up plays for this guy. If you're going to do that, you need to be certain that he's going to make those plays and not make mistakes. And that's unfortunately become what he's been known for. And I know he does well in the blocking game. I know he's he's a good kind of, you know, floater for the offense where he can, you know, help the run game tremendously. And he does make some nice plays after the catch.

But shoot, I can't help but wonder if you'd given some of those plays to Devon Valle or even Troy Franklin, how much different the outcome could have been. Well, you know, part of me also wonders here with Sean as well. Is it more so like you're willing to live with the mistakes that little Jordan Humphrey makes versus like a mistake that a rookie will make, right? Because I think when rookies make mistakes, then it seems to be a little bit more amplified than when a veteran guy does that. I don't know if there's any credence to that.

That's just speculation on my part here. but I can also look at maybe the idea of little Jordan Humphrey resigning on a one-year deal, but also going through training camp, just because as we always see, wide receiver, you always have a ton of bodies there. You're not going to go into training camp with just six or seven receivers, you're usually going to go into like 11, potentially at that point.

And for Denver, you might need those bodies there, but this could be the situation where it's like, I think as a coaching staff, you have to ask yourself here, okay, we know what this guy can do. Maybe there's room for him on our practice squad, but we need to see these younger guys take a step forward.

And the only way to do that is to allow those young guys like Detroit Franklin's, the Devon Valais, maybe even A.T. Perry getting the mix a little bit. You need to let those guys make mistakes along the way, right? And obviously, we'll see what Denver decides to do at wide receiver. There's still, as a time that we're sitting down and talking about this, still the possibility of them trading for Cooper Cup or Debo Samuel or maybe even looking at getting a guy in free agency at this point or the NFL draft. but I don't think you can continue to do the same exact things here when you need to

amplify those other elements of your team and your roster development with some of these younger guys who I think have higher upside and flash potential than little Jordan Humphrey. And that's not a shot at little Jordan Humphrey in any way, shape, or form. As you mentioned, he does the dirty work. He can make a couple of good plays here or there, but is he the ultimate boomer bus guy here for your roster? When you have guys with the size and speed and the ability to create separation like Troy Franklin or the catch radius of a guy like Devon Valey or the unknown factor right now of A.T. Perry,

who's obviously six foot five and runs ridiculous speed there. Is that where you want to shift your focus or do you want to stick with what you know because, hey, it's comfortable. We understand it. We know what you're going to get. But I think you can ask yourself the question, are you getting enough from him? And I don't think that's the case here. So I don't think he's going to be trending towards returning here.

But let's go here to Michael Burton here once again, the fullback. position. Burton's obviously one of the key special teams players here for Denver. You know, Darren Rizzi's coming in. Does it make more sense for the Broncos to focus on Nate Adkins or to bring it all back here with Michael Burton? Because look, I don't think you're getting, I think Michael Burton adds value to what you want to do offensively, but how often do we see Burton in at fullback this season for the Broncos versus you saw more 12 personnel with Troutman and Adkins in those roles specifically. Yeah, I think that's a great point. And it's exactly why I can't help but wonder if the Broncos are going, because it's, it seems like one of those

things that Sean Payton wants to have the old school fullback as a break glass in case of emergency sort of thing. But at the same time, you know, Michael Burton, he's 33. I can resonate with, hey, you're entering your mid 30s, man, I get it. I mean, how much longer are you going to be able to do it? And when do you get replaced by somebody who's younger than you? That's the thing that I keep going back to as well is, man, he's been doing it for a long time and that aspect of his game is both valuable, but also it kind of puts the writing on the wall a little bit to say, hey, our pro scouts are going to have to really determine, can you do this again for another full NFL season?

Or do we need to go after somebody with more upside? And again, that's such a hot button term, isn't it? I mean, you want the upside of, hey, we want to put the higher overall player in Madden into the lineup and things like that. but there are certain things that these other guys do well. They're not going to rank high in the Madden ratings, but they're going to do a lot of good things for your football team over the course of the season and play a lot of valuable snaps. Well, and I think with Burton as well, I think there's a difference, right?

I think when you look at the position of fullback, it's hard to find really good fullbacks. I think that are old school that can play it the old school way. But Burton also caught several passes out of the backfield and also had a receiving touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers. I think that when it comes to age, right, and their skill player positions specifically, I think people are a lot more skeptical of a wide receiver who's 33, 34 years old, I'd say versus a fullback who's at age. Or even you look at like long snappers.

You see long snappers that play such a long time into their 30s and even mid 30s. And it's like, oh, well, you know, it's different. That positional demand is a little bit different. I think in today's NFL, you have to find balance. And I think this is why, you know, we've made the argument about Nate Adkins is that Nate Atkins is a big body guy who can do the fullback position stuff, but he can also do the receiving stuff that you use out of a hybrid tight end. So is that where the NFL is trending, I think a little bit more so.

You know, obviously I think the situation in Baltimore is a little different. You got Derek Henry, but you also got a big beefy fullback who can open up some lanes for you. I'm very curious to see how the Broncos land on this position specifically in feeling like, hey, we can do this with a tight end type player? Or do we stick with a traditional fullback like Burton and continue? you need to proceed forward. And I don't know where Sean's going to be trending. But, I mean, I think if you are going to bring back any guy between Lord Jordan Humphrey and

Michael Burton, I would probably lean towards bringing back Michael Burton over him at this point and then having him compete during training camp. I mean, remember last year, it was late in the NFL free. Then he signed a one-year deal to come back to Denver. So is that going to be the same situation here for Burton once again at a position? I think we can look at across the NFL and say the outlook on it is changing. And you're not seeing as many fullbacks. I think as we used to see, but it's nice to see that some coaches like Sean Payton can keep that position alive.

Keeping these guys alive, keeping that business afloat. It's like an old mom and pop shop, right? Like you got your spots that you like to go. There's this donut shop here in Omaha, Cody, that I see these old guys sitting in every single time I go there. And it's just like that with the fullback position. Some of these old heads in the coaching realm, they're like, the fullback position, that's my donut shop. I ain't leaving. I'm keeping that business afloat till I die.

So I love that Sean Payton's doing that and incorporating that and believing in that. And Burton has adapted by obviously playing a lot of special teams as well. So these guys aren't just, well, he's just the fullback. But you've seen how valuable those guys can be. Look at Jim Harbaugh's offense with the Chargers, the dude who plays D-Line and fullback or Patrick Ricard for the Baltimore Ravens. Kyle Eusecheck. I mean, there's value that these guys can bring to the table more than just playing the

traditional full back roll. But to have that in your back pocket, not a lot of defenses have to account for that each week. So having that, it's kind of a little wild card in your Uno deck. Well, it kind of opens up exactly what we're going to be talking about on tomorrow's episode of the show. Broncos country for all you every day or is that a wrap up today's show. But for tomorrow's show, there's been a lot of conversation about Tasum Hill and whether or not he would be a fit here for the Broncos offense as he's getting to a point where the Saints are trending towards releasing him. Would that add any dynamic to the Broncos office? or should they avoid bringing Taysam Hill to the Mile High City?

We'll break that down and look at every angle on tomorrow's brand new episode of the show.