Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos NFL Free Agency Plans IMPACTED By Re-Signings

Starting point is 00:00:00 NFL free agency is here. And the Denver Broncos potential plans could have gotten rained on a little bit by some other players deciding to resign with their team. We'll talk about how this impacts the Broncos free agency strategy here on today's 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? You know what time it is. It's time for another episode. Locked on Broncos, your daily.

Starting point is 00:00:35 Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network where you know it is your team every day. Thank you so much, Broncos Country. For all the everydayers out there, thank you for making us your first listen. However you choose to do so, NFL free agency is here. It's going to be a wild week here on Broncos countries. Make sure if you're not in every day or you become one now by hitting that subscribe or that follow button wherever you get your podcast. I'm Cody Roark, Broncos beat reporter from Mile High Sports. Join as always by Sarah Beninger, site expert of their predominantly orange.com.

Starting point is 00:01:03 We've got a lot to break down and digest here as the appetizer for NFL free agency is officially here on Monday. The legal negotiating period that begins at 10 o'clock a.m. Mountain time. So how does that set the table for free agency? Well, we'll wrap things up by sharing our thoughts on how active we think the Broncos will be here on Monday. We'll also talk about whether or not Miles Garrett's mega deal impacts Nick Benito's contract extension talks in any way, shape, or form. but we're going to kick things off by highlighting an issue here to start free agency. Several players that were rumored to be targets of interest for the Broncos in free agency, deciding to re-sign with their teams at a couple of key positions.

Starting point is 00:01:44 How does that impact their focus and strategy for the rest of free agency? I, I mean, a couple of the key positions, Denver is known to be in the market for here, tight end and linebacker where the Broncos, I think we expected them to maybe be active and in some big names here. some of those big names are now not available here as to Broncos, get ready to start free agency here at 10 o'clock a.m. Mountain time. Yeah, I suppose let's start with the position that they're expected to maybe make the biggest splash, which is the linebacker position, Cody, where Nick Bolton went back to Kansas City on a deal worth $15 million per year.

Starting point is 00:02:19 That was shortly after obviously Zach Bond not too long ago, re-signed with the Philadelphia Eagles for $17 million per year. So the top inside linebackers coming off the board before things even get started. Of course, there's certain players still available. I know on your top, you know, potential Bronco signings list was Dre Greenlaw of the 49ers. He's still available as of the time we're recording because, look, it seems like the teams are plucking Broncos targets off the board as we speak. But Jamie and Sherwood also available. And then there's kind of lower tier guys, Devin Bush, players like that, maybe Willie Gay Jr., who are potential.

Starting point is 00:02:58 additions, I guess, but I guess I don't know if Cody Barton's coming back at this point. I mean, that's kind of where things seem to be trending, Cody. It just feels like this is not a good overall free agent class when you look, even at the positions of Broncos aren't going to be active in. It's just not a good free agent class. And that's why we're seeing tons of money being handed out to other players and things like that and guys being taken off the board. So it does put the Broncos in a tough position, obviously, because they want to be able to

Starting point is 00:03:26 attack some of these areas of need before NFL free agency, their best avenue of doing so at this point, it might be some trades and some moving of late round picks. Yeah, we'll have to look at maybe what that's going to look like or what players would be worth maybe trading some assets for, you know, in terms of, hey, like, we really need this position. We need this type of player. Let's go out and get it. I mean, the linebacker one, you and I talked about this with the bond episode we did last week is, all right, does this maybe change the Broncos priority of making a splash, a big splash at another position. And you know, you can't help but look now with Nick Bolton off the board here,

Starting point is 00:04:02 a team that the Broncos, I mean, a player of the Broncos were interested in potentially there, 25 years of age. I mean, that's where it's like, okay, I can look at a $15 million per year and say, hey, that's justified to your point. Right now for me, I look at the list of free agents available, the Devin Bush is not necessarily in the same tier, I think as Drake Greenlaw or even Jamie and Sherwood, who I think is probably going to be the under the radar type of guy that goes in free agency this year, whether to Denver or another team. I think Sherwood's a tremendous young player here. But now all of a sudden,

Starting point is 00:04:31 I look at him like, I understand the importance that Denver needs to get a linebacker. But at this point, Sarah, if there's no one that you feel like is a evidently tangible upgrade over what you had last year, why not just running back with Cody Barton, Drew Sanders, like have him compete with Drew Sanders to play alongside Alex Singleton. I mean, worst case scenario, Cody Barton and Alex Singleton start again. They were solid early on when they were both playing together there at linebackers. So I'm not opposed to that necessarily. But when you look at some of the guys that were available, you wish you would at least

Starting point is 00:05:04 bend in on it. But obviously, you know, teams have the opportunity before their guys hit free agency to go in and say, hey, we really want to keep you. We don't want to let you hit the free agency market. Let's find a way to come to terms on a deal. That certainly was the case for Nick Bolton. But Sarah, even like we saw a run over the weekend of tight ends resigning with their teams, which, you know, I think Zach Ertz was a name that was brought up.

Starting point is 00:05:25 And you and I've had this conversation here. We both agreed. Like, I don't see him leaving Washington where he had success with Jaden Daniels. I don't see the commanders getting rid of him because they found out how great of a security blanket he was for the rookie quarterback last year. He resigns with the commanders over the weekend. You look at Mike Yiseki, who he thought would be an under the radar type name that the Broncos could add at the tight end position.

Starting point is 00:05:46 That does a clear, tangible upgrade from a receiving standpoint than anybody they have on the roster. He resigns with the Cincinnati Bengals. So it makes it easy for Cincinnati. Hey, they're going to go score 47, 48 points this year. But their defense, they're going to give up probably 50, 52 at that point from that standpoint. So you know, you miss out on Gaseki possibly there. And then even Tommy Trembal is kind of that under the radar name that I know you had talked about in Carolina. He resigns there. So for me, I look at it as well right now in terms of free agents that are available. Sarah, I think there's only two that really stand out. It's like, all right, hey, if Denver gets them, that's a clear upgrade. Joanne Johnson, obviously.

Starting point is 00:06:24 And I also think Evan Ingram, who was released by the Jaguars due to a failed physical. And that's something I think would obviously be taken care of here in Denver. I think he had passed it here. But those become the top two guys, I think, that are available right now if you want to really upgrade that position in free agency. And that's the state of where things are at, really, is what it is, is that the options are dwindling already by the minute. And we haven't even got to the legal negotiating period at this point, which, is discouraging if you're a Denver Broncos fan and you want to see the team make the big splash. But there again, sometimes the best deals are the deals that you don't make, right?

Starting point is 00:07:00 And so you never know when the pivot is going to be the better option, actually. So at linebacker, is it a trade for Bobby O'Caricay, who's been known to be available from the New York Giants or at tight end? Is it somebody else? I mean, if you look around the league, there's obviously different players that you can be trade for, like is Mark Andrews available? that the Browns have re-signed Miles Garrett and they're eating so much cash on Deshaun Watson, is David Nijoku available in Cleveland?

Starting point is 00:07:29 I think there's so much more that might be on the table via trade this offseason than, you know, and that market could be driven up too because of the lack of depth and free agency. There's not even really a lot of guys that you would look out there at either of these positions and kind of say like, that guy was a really good prospect and, you know, he just, for whatever reason, it didn't start well, and he's just started to pick up his stride lately. There's not really even many guys like that, at least specifically when you're talking about tight ends. With linebackers, there's at least formerly highly drafted guys.

Starting point is 00:08:03 But to me, Cody, you're looking at these positions of need for Denver at this point. Do you shift and pivot your attention to like a wide receiver? Do you say, well, I mean, we had the 15 million budgeted for the linebacker, and we had this budgeted for this position. but now these guys are they're off the board. So why not go spend $25 million a year on Chris Godwin? I mean, I'm not saying who cares at this point, but I mean, like, let's go for it.

Starting point is 00:08:30 I mean, I think you need to find ways to make the biggest impact on this team. It's not just finding, okay, who's the next most expensive linebacker that we can buy? That's an addict's mentality towards shopping, Cody. And I know because I have been addicted to shopping in the past and maybe still am today, but it's like, oh, shoot, I didn't win the draw for the Jordan 5, you know, black metallic reimagined. So I'm going to go, I'm going to go spend $1,200 on Travis Scott, Jordan 1 shoe. For anybody that's a sneaker collector, you resonate with that. But what I'm saying is that you don't just immediately say, hey, this was my target.

Starting point is 00:09:05 And now I'm just going to go buy the next most expensive thing I can find because I missed out on my target. Maybe you shift, okay, where was that budget going? Where can we reallocate it and have multiple plans? because we know George Peyton, Sean Payton, they weren't unprepared for Nick Bolton resigning in Kansas City. Well, I think when you look at it as well, if you want to still look at linebacker, maybe the Broncos shift their focus.

Starting point is 00:09:27 Okay, we're not going to make a big splash there, but there is this guy that we like that. Let's bring him in. Let's see what he can do because if he can play to the potential in which we think or our scouts have identified what he can bring to our table, then maybe it's a low risk, high reward type of move on. Maybe Denver shifts their focus to those types of deals for some of those players. Very interesting, though, to see how the market, you know, is changing. Now, a lot of people

Starting point is 00:09:50 are saying that this year's free agency class from a widespread perspective is kind of mid is what they're saying because there's so many guys available. It's like you're not going to get too many guys are going to be breaking the bank from a massive standpoint. And obviously, that's going to lead to us talking about Miles Garrett. Obviously, here on today's show, how does that impact Nick Benito with a potential contract extension as Denver's trying to work out free agency? The draft is coming up. That is something Brockos Country. We're going to debate and discuss here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Broncos Country. Today's episode show is brought through our friends over there at TurboTax. And this is a message from a sponsor into a TurboTax. Taxes was

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Starting point is 00:11:02 Now, this is taxes. Get an expert now on turbotax.com only available with TurboTax Live full service, real-time updates only in iOS mobile apps. See guaranteed details at turbotax.com. slash guarantees. In a shocking turn of events, the Cleveland Browns have paid Miles Garrett a contract that is worth $40 million per year. While we can look back 10 years ago at Von Miller resetting the market at 20 million per year,

Starting point is 00:11:30 Miles Garrett's new deal could end up making Nick Benito look like an absolute bargain if and when the Broncos re-sign him. But does that mean that Benito's price has now gone up? We're going to discuss that on today's episode, locked on Broncos. but Broncos country. Thanks so much for joining us today and every single day for all you everyday listeners out there. You already know your boys, Cody and Sarah, we got you covered every single step of the way here in NFL free agency. Cody, I don't care if I got to be called out of a cold dead sleep in the night.

Starting point is 00:11:59 If something happens for the Denver Broncos, we're going to be doing a breaking news episode on the pod here. So for anybody that's not already subscribed, you're going to want to make sure you do that so you don't miss a single episode or bit of news when it comes to your Denver Broncos. And although Miles Garrett doesn't play for the Denver Broncos, he's certainly resetting the market amongst past rushers. I definitely didn't get the impression, Cody, that his trade request earlier this offseason was anything to do with a contract extension. But as they say, money talks. And the Cleveland Browns just gave a lot of money to Miles Garrett, $40 million per year on a four-year extension. That's after Max Crosby signed a massive contract extension with the Los Angeles. Vegas Raiders.

Starting point is 00:12:44 The Broncos are looking at their situation with Nick Benito. There's no way they're going to be waiting until next year at this time to try to resign him, right? I mean, this puts urgency behind what they're trying to get done with Benito, right? Yeah, no, I think it does. But the question here, Sarah, is where do they go? What does that price range look like from an average annual value per year at this point? That is where, like, things are very blurred right now when it comes to the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:13:09 They're, you know, pending extensions here with Nick Benito and even Zach Allen, right? because let's look at Miles Garrett. Yes, he's a pass rusher, but he plays the defensive end position. He's not a stand-up outside linebacker. Max Crosby, not a stand-up outside linebacker. He's a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end. When you look at what Nick Benito does, Nick is a stand-up outside edge rusher, right, and who has more of an opportunity and obviously took advantage of it to impact in the passing game,

Starting point is 00:13:33 not only by pressuring the quarterback getting sacks, QB hits, but also generating interceptions, pick sixes, fumble recoveries, retouching, things like that. And so for me, it's like, how do you, with this new thing with Miles Garrett's mega deal, the highest paid non-quarterback contract in NFL history, certainly is going to make the market, not just only a little more muddier for pass rushers, but look at Jamar chasing the Cincinnati Bengals. You know, they were anticipated to make him the next highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history. So what is that going to look like? 41, 42 million per year for Jamar at that point, at wide receiver?

Starting point is 00:14:09 to me it's crazy. Like even like Craig Hendrickson, a defensive end, not a standup edge rusher. Looking around 30 to 32 million per year. Sarah, I look at Nick Bonito and I'm thinking to myself, what is the right price tag range for him, right? You know, obviously he's a talented player. You want to take care of him. To me, I don't see them going over $25 million per year, though, especially if they have

Starting point is 00:14:32 to do another deal with Zach Allen at this point. Like for me, I think their price range for those two guys has to be between the $20 to $25 million dollar APY. I don't see it being anything over that. I'm curious for your thoughts on that. And also for Broncos country, how are you feeling about that potential price tag range? Right. I think you do have to draw a line in the sand when it comes to resigning guys because obviously you have to build a team. And really what we should be looking at now. And maybe I really hope outlets will start kind of reporting in this way. But like what percentage of the salary cap is a guy taking up? That's exactly what I think would be the most valuable.

Starting point is 00:15:09 and it would be really important for us to all be able to shift our vernacular to that because at this point, that matters a lot more than the average annual salary or the cap hits or things like that because ultimately you could say a guy, hey, this guy's going to have a $25 million cap hit. We have no idea. Well, what percentage even of the cap is that relative to what it was five years ago? Because a guy making $25 million this year, that might be similar to what a guy making 12 million was five years ago. So it's all about percentage of the cap as well. And I think there's a certain percentage threshold, even as you project the cap forward,

Starting point is 00:15:48 where you would have to draw a line in the sand with somebody like Nick Bonito and say, hey, like we literally just drafted Jonah Ellis, right? And we feel good about Dondray Tillman providing depth. We re-signed Jonathan Cooper. Pass rushers come available every year. Heck, you would then have to start having internal discussions like this. Okay. If Nick Benito wants $25 million a year, would we not entertain the idea of trading future picks or going after somebody like Michael Parsons in a trade if the Cowboys can't keep him?

Starting point is 00:16:19 I mean, those types of discussions become more realistic, the closer you get to paying a guy that big of money. And it's not to say that the outcome of that is going to be, hey, we're trading for Michael Parsons. But it's just to say you draw a line in the sand so that you don't go overboard with resigning a guy when you can. could just you could go get the best player at his position for not that much more. Well, and I think the challenge now with pass rushers specifically is that seems to be the one position that is growing from a contract valuation standpoint and the demand obviously, like you have to find good passers. Like, heck, even former Bronco, Baron Brown and got a pretty solid contract extension there

Starting point is 00:16:57 with the Arizona Cardinals on the eve of NFL free agency. And, you know, luckily you've already got Jonathan Cooper locked up. You've got rookie contract control over Jonah Ellis. You got obviously a year to year situation here with Dandre Tillman, who was an exclusive rights free agent, who they tendered. I think he's got after next year, he'll be in the RFA again. And I think after that, then he'll be an RFA. So there's cost control here with two of those positions, at least for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:17:22 And then you got, obviously, your extension there with Coup. You need, but you need past Russian waves in today's NFL, right? We've seen what it's like when teams don't have a guy that can get to the quarterback. It puts the defense in a bind. It makes your inside linebackers look rough. and makes your secondary struggle because you're not getting that generated pressure output that, you know, you need to succeed in today's NFL, especially against some of the offenses that, you know, you're going to play. Some of the offenses here this upcoming season, Devers going to play.

Starting point is 00:17:48 I like their pass rush room as it is. But in terms of keeping that room together, obviously you want to do it. Coup's locked in for the long term. You want Nick Benito here for the long term. It's just trying to find that common ground now. And maybe the selling point here for the Broncos, like Nick Benito wants to get paid and deserves to get paid. But maybe the selling point is, hey, We really believe, like, here's what we're willing to offer you. We believe this right now, I understand the market out there's crazy, but we believe that we can really win here in the next two to three years or within this year window.

Starting point is 00:18:16 We want to maximize that. And in order to do that, we have to have the best team possible. We want to bring back guys like Zach Allen. We want to be able to add guys for Bo Nix to throw to, to be able to make this offense really go. Maybe there's a selling point, not saying taking a hometown discount, but how can the Broncos best pitch and sell maybe guys like Zach Allen and Nick Benito for, a, I would say fair level market deal here, not just for their positions, but for the team as well.

Starting point is 00:18:41 That's, that's going to be the tough part about negotiating this thing. Yeah, because you don't just reset the market with the next guy, right? This isn't like the NBA where there's basically predetermined max contracts and things like that for players. And it's like this superstar is getting paid as much as this superstar, even though this guy is like an actual superstar and this guy is only good for, you know, whoever it's way different in the NFL because there are. tears to this whole thing. And you just like I said, you can't go back, you can't go past that line in the proverbial sand that you've drawn when it comes to resigning even your own guys, although that is George Peyton's philosophy is to get guys to a second contract. I think you have to really look at

Starting point is 00:19:23 comparables as well. I know Spot Track does something like that where they kind of look at, hey, here's, here's some comparable players in the past and their production and their age at signing and what they signed for. Although that. kind of stuff is almost you're almost able to just rip it up after year after year at this point, aren't you? Because things are changing so dramatically with the exponentially increasing salary cap in today's NFL. So it does make it a bit tougher. But as we're seeing around the league, I mean, contracts are getting done. There's the clear evidence of inflation when it comes to like Hollywood Brown getting as much money as he did, Cody or Tutu Atwell getting as much money

Starting point is 00:20:02 as he did. Even Zach Bond getting 17 million per year. I mean, we're living in a different world of the NFL right now. And so it does complicate things a little bit. It might force teams back to the negotiating table, but I still think you draw that line in the sand. We'll see how it impacts the Broncos is they're looking to get contract extensions done not only with Nick Benito, but Zach Allen and potentially Cortland Sutton before, after the NFL draft here.

Starting point is 00:20:27 But Broncos country, how do you feel about Nick Benito and his potential contract extension? Does it get impacted? Or Zach Allen's by Miles Garrett's mega deal. Make sure you let us know wherever you're catching locked on Broncos. We're not done yet here, Broncos Country. Sarah and I, we're going to share our thoughts on how active we think the Broncos are going to be here on Monday when the legal negotiating period opens up at 10 o'clock a.m. Mountain time, including we're going to share what position we think gets taken off the board first here for the Broncos.

Starting point is 00:20:54 We'll break that down and much more here on today's episode of the show. Broncos Country, today's episode of the show is brought to you by friends over there at Fandu. And as you all know, Fandul, they are America's number one sportsbook. And March Madness is here. And Fandul is giving you the chance to get in on the action like never before. Because right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. That's 200 extra bucks to use on everything from buzzer beaters to Cinderella stories and even who's cutting the nets down. You can pick some of your favorite teams in the tournament this year.

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Starting point is 00:21:57 the legal negotiating period or the legal tampering period, as many people continue to talk about. begins officially at 10 o'clock a.m. Mountain time. And that's when deals can essentially be agreed upon in principle. And then they become official beginning on Wednesday at 2 o'clock p.m. Mountain time. And the new league year officially rolls around just how active will the Denver Broncos be? We'll share our thoughts and we'll share maybe even what position we think the Broncos could address first here as it pertains to free agency here real quick. I want to say thanks once again to everyone in Broncos country, all the everydayers for making us your first listen. however you choose to do so. Sarah, this is kind of more so our thoughts,

Starting point is 00:22:36 what we predict will happen here because either the Broncos, and this is the fun part about social media, either the Broncos are going to take forever to do something or they're going to be active very early. And then there's going to be a lot of discussion, some bonus episodes, some breaking news episodes here, locked on Broncos. How active do you think Denver will be here on Monday?

Starting point is 00:22:53 I think they're going to be very active, Cody. I think as much as George Payton talked about being measured, I do really get the sense that the Broncos are going to be very targeted with the guys that they're trying to get in free agency. Now, does that mean that certain deals won't take more than a day to get done? Absolutely not. But as we already know, these deals are getting done behind the scenes. These deals are being, you know, numbers are being thrown out at the combine. That's the tampering period at this point.

Starting point is 00:23:21 The NFL has had to turn a blind eye to that for a long time at this point. But I think what we know to be true is that the Broncos are typically going to, to get at least somebody within the first day or two of free agency. And I do believe that they're going to come away with somebody on day one. I think it's going to be a whatever you would consider a tier one free agent to be from this crop of players that's out there, whether it's a receiver, a safety, a linebacker, maybe even a defensive lineman now that it looks like the 49ers might be paving the way for DJ Jones to come back home.

Starting point is 00:23:54 You know, I could see it being any one of those positions. And I just feel like that's where the Broncos. those kind of need to go because those are the that that's the positions where you can't afford to miss out on your top targets no i agree with you the one thing i don't want to see denver do you know we talked about it with the at the beginning of the show here talking about maybe linebackers tight ends i don't want them to go out there and just say okay hey let's just go get a guy so we don't miss out on adding someone to the mix like i i want denver to have this mindset and i'm sure they have that right obviously we know the top names of free and see that are there we know the guys

Starting point is 00:24:26 that resign with their teams. But is there somebody out there that is available that they're like, hey, this is a guy that maybe like, you know, everyone says that these guys were the top targets. We actually believe that this guy was the top target. And we believe that this guy's going to be a little bit of a needle mover, a difference maker here. I think everyone's thinking about Joanne Johnson at tight end,

Starting point is 00:24:43 possibly. I think a lot of people are expecting that to be the first move that the Broncos make. You brought up DJ Jones, which I find, you know, this is a very interesting part as well. You look at what has happened so far in terms of some guys, re-signing like the Seattle Seahawks. They're undergoing a massive rebuild right now from all from the looks of it, but they're keeping obviously a couple of their key players in attack.

Starting point is 00:25:04 Jaron Reed, obviously a defensive tackle. He just got a three-year, $25 million per year, not $25 million per year, three-year, $25 million total deal at this point. DJ Jones last contract he has a three-year $30 million deal. DJ's a little bit younger here. Is this the price point here? But then again, we saw DJ post a tweet over the weekend on Sunday about, you know, his value, like people will tell you what your value is, but deep down, you have to know what

Starting point is 00:25:30 your own value is at this point. So is that a subliminal message? Is that something that's indicating that he's moving on? We don't know just yet. If the Broncos re-sign a guy, I imagine first off, their top priority would be to get DJ Jones back. We'll see if that's the first domino that happens here for Denver. That doesn't have to happen at 10 a.m. mountain time, but that can happen anytime before. If not that, I think the Broncos, that big splash, I think it's a wide receiver, Sarah.

Starting point is 00:25:56 You know, we talked about a few of the veteran options there. You mentioned Chris Godwin as one of those guys you hope for. Then there were reports over the weekend of Chris Godwin being in the camp of maybe making 27 to 28 million per year. And that the New England Patriots are probably like the prime contender to drive that price up possibly here for Godwin. So where do you think they go? Like for me, I think it's going to be a receiver. I don't know if it's going to be a Chris Godwin splash, but I do think that they're going to add, as Mike Kliss says, a veteran of note, a player of note that is clearly, like a on par level with Cortland Sutton or a wide receiver two right behind it.

Starting point is 00:26:31 Could be somebody like Darius Slayton who's becoming available from the New York Giants, who's kind of had a raw deal when it comes to the quarterback position in his situation there and might have a little bit more than meets the eye. It could be guys that we've talked about before, like Keenan Allen, Cooper Cup. It could be somebody like that, right? Or Amari Cooper, who has a connection to Kerry Colbert on the coaching staff. Could be somebody like that. I would still love to see the Broncos go after Chris Godwin.

Starting point is 00:26:58 And here's my sales pitch on that. If the New England Patriots are willing to go all out for Chris Godwin, why would the Broncos not be? Like, I know the Broncos have Cortland Sutton and the Patriots don't exactly have a Cortland Sutton. But the reason why the Patriots are going after Chris Godwin is to help Drake May. And like this is where I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, Cody. I feel like Mugatu on Zoolander where he's like, am I taking crazy pills?

Starting point is 00:27:28 It's the same look. I'm like, we're the same spot. We've got a quarterback, we've got a young quarterback who receivers let him down all year last year. And we're talking about adding, you know, the bottom of the barrel guys at receiver or just running it back or adding

Starting point is 00:27:46 Joanne Johnson. Like, freaking go get Chris Godwin, do something. Like, that's what I'm saying. I'm not trying to be impatient. and I'm not trying to be shock jock or hot take or things like that.

Starting point is 00:27:57 But seriously, if the Washington commanders are in on Debo Samuel, why not us? If the New England Patriots are in on freaking Chris Godwin, why not the Broncos? Like, that doesn't make sense to me. All these other teams with young quarterbacks, the Chicago Bears, they just traded for two interior offensive linemen because Caleb Williams got sacked almost as much as David Carr when he was a rookie. like to me it's foolish it's roster malpractice since i could still throw that out there because all these other teams are going after upgrades for their their quarterback and what are

Starting point is 00:28:33 the Denver broncos doing if they sit on their hands cody i'm going to be throwing hands on the podcast early on this week yeah no i i don't blame you as well and when you look at some other teams that are making moves look we didn't get a chance to react to it but the los vegas readers they go and they add gino smith which i think that makes them better than they were last last year at the position, but the whole idea in which I laughed at is, oh, you're going to trade from, then you're going to extend it, like give them a three-year extension. Like to me, it's like a one to two-year bridge quarterback deal, but it's like, all right, now that they've got that, and they can read, they can probably, they'll probably sign Tyler Lockett

Starting point is 00:29:05 and free agency. But now they're in a position where they can go out and help build a foundation by maybe adding an Ashton Gentie from Boise State as little in the first round as where they're at right there. So Denver's got to make moves here to help Bo Nix get better. Like this is where you can't let other teams necessarily. dictate how you approach it, but you have to be cognizant to the fact that, okay, we have to get better because everybody else around us is getting better. Our competition is getting better. And in order for

Starting point is 00:29:31 Bo to continue to grow, you need to amplify this team around him. It's not just on Bo. Bo was the offense in 2024 here for the Broncos. Let there be no question about that. But Bo simply cannot do it on his own. You don't want to put him in that position. Make your team better. Go out and do it. But don't be desperate in the way that you do things or, you know, like my biggest worry is if Denver goes out there and tries to get a guy, they get into a bidding war with someone, let's say for a position, maybe like tight end. And then it ends up costing them more than it should, but it's not a guy who's necessarily going to be maybe a better addition than what you've already got or maybe you can go younger in the draft and just focus on that. Like to me, I'm very curious to see how Denver's

Starting point is 00:30:11 mindset shifts because of what's happened over the weekend with players resigning, what the market it currently looks like, does that change how aggressive they want to be or how measured they'll be? To me, that's going to be the biggest key here. And look, Broncos country, one thing we can guarantee you, your boy, Sarah Bedinger, myself, Cody York, we're going to be here every step of the way. We're on standby. We got a cup of coffee already brewed. We're waiting for news to happen because you're going to get instant coverage here on lockdown Broncos

Starting point is 00:30:37 breaking down why it's a good move or a bad move here for Denver, offensively, defensively, special teams, whatever it may be. On top of that, you get our written work as well, milehysports.com for my myself, Sarah writes over there, predominantly orange.com NFL free agency is here. The frenzy begins. Broncos country, buckle up. We got you covered with reactions to whatever moves the Broncos make here on tomorrow's episode of the show.

Starting point is 00:31:00 We'll see you then.

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