Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Sign SURPRISE CB, Damarri Mathis Could Be on the Trade Block

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Denver Broncos are leaving no stone unturned as they found another player from the UFL. Cornerback Mario Goodrich is in the fold. And that might mean that Damari Mathis is on the trade block. We're going to talk about that and much more coming up next 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.

Starting point is 00:00:32 The Denver Broncos have signed another cornerback. to what was already the best position group on the team. What does that mean for Damari Mathis? What does it mean for the other position groups on the roster that could maybe use some upgrading here as we get into the meat of the 2025 off season? We're going to talk about all of that on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. But welcome in Broncos country. My name is Sayre Bedinger.

Starting point is 00:00:56 I'm the co-host here at Lockdown Broncos as well as the site expert over there at predominantly orange.com. And we always appreciate you for tuning in, especially this time of year where you know that your boys, Cody and Sarah, will have you covered every single day with some fresh perspective content analysis and coverage of anything that goes on for your favorite team, the Denver Broncos, including the signing of a very interesting player. The Broncos bringing in UFL standout cornerback, Mario Goodrich, who played his college football at Clemson. a national championship there. As a matter of fact, early on in his collegiate career, spent a couple of years in the NFL with the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles before getting his shot at the UFL level where he played five games last season,

Starting point is 00:01:48 racked up 15 total tackles and four passes broken up. Goodrich, a physical player. You can see that when you watch some of his highlights. He's got solid ball skills. And what he brings to the Denver Broncos is an interesting blend of development upside at cornerback as he's only 25 years old. But also, he brings some special teams ability. In 2023 with the Philadelphia Eagles,

Starting point is 00:02:13 Goodrich actually played 40 special team snaps. He actually played 70 defensive snaps as well. Remember, in 2023, the Eagles really struggled to figure out their business at cornerback and they shuffled a ton of different guys in. Goodrich was one of them. And to be quite honest, he struggled a lot. He was targeted 10 times in coverage that year, and he allowed 10 receptions. And it was not good.

Starting point is 00:02:38 It was a quarterback rating of over 149 into his coverage. So this is a guy that definitely needed the additional reps, the additional development at another level of professional football. And that's why I think the UFL is so great, is that it allows these guys that really need the reps that they're not necessarily getting on an NFL practice squad even. They need the reps out there in game action to really develop their skills, to be able to play some real football. And yes, it's a completely different level of competition.

Starting point is 00:03:12 The best guys from the UFO might be some of your back-end roster guys or top-end practice squad guys at the NFL level. But as we saw last year with Dandre Tillman, there might be a little more than meets the eye, right? I mean, you don't want to write these guys off immediately. And I think that's what makes a move like this so exciting, is that, The Broncos, their scouting department, George Payton, the general manager, they're not going to leave any stone unturned when it comes to finding ways to upgrade this

Starting point is 00:03:42 roster, even if it means going after a player who plays a position where you feel like we already have maybe the best group of cornerbacks in the NFL, right? With defensive player of the year, Pat Sertan at the top of the depth chart. We recently heard head coach Sean Payton speak very highly of the work that Riley Moss did last year and that he's having a good offseason. And then you have Jayquan Mac Millen playing well in the slot. You brought in Jaudey Baron with your first round pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Chris Abrams Drain had a really good rookie season for the Denver Broncos,

Starting point is 00:04:17 at least in terms of the opportunity that he got late in the year. So you have already an embarrassment of riches at the position. Why would you go after a guy like this? Well, we know the saying goes, you can never have too many good corners. I always bring this quote up because I think it's so important to remember. But Vic Fangio once said, you know, across the NFL, there's essentially 96 starting cornerbacks, if you count the nickel because teams spend 60 or more percent of the time, if not well above that, in their nickel alignment, which means they've got three corners on the field at all time.

Starting point is 00:04:53 So you figure 32 NFL teams, basically three starting roles for the cornerback position, you've essentially got to have five or six guys at that position. And Vic Fangio kind of, he pointed out like there's not 96 starting caliber corners in the NFL. George Payton has consistently, from the very first pick that he made, which was Pat Sartan, he's consistently emphasized the importance of drafting and developing defensive backs and having just a plethora of those guys at your disposal. And yeah, the Broncos have found guys from the first round of the draft. to the undrafted free agent scrap heap, right?

Starting point is 00:05:31 So they're not above looking at the UFO level to say, hey, this guy is somebody that we liked coming out of college, or maybe he's somebody that they scouted in the preseason. Actually, you know what's really interesting about this move? The Broncos, remember, they shuffled around some of their front office this off season. Jordan Dyson, a former NFL linebacker who spent a number of years in the Denver Broncos front office. he actually was working with the Philadelphia Eagles in their front office from 2022 to 24. And he was there as one of their pro scouting department guys.

Starting point is 00:06:08 And in part of bringing in Mario Goodrich when he was let go by the New York Giants after the 22 seasons. So the Eagles brought in Goodrich that gave him some playing time. And I think it's no coincidence now. As we know, the ties that bind, they really matter in the NFL. You've now got Jordan Dyson back in the Denver Broncos front office as their director of pro scouting. And you see Goodrich coming in as one of those guys who joins a 91 man roster that we don't know what the corresponding roster move was. But Goodrich did get a one year deal. And you have to think that maybe Jordan Dyson did a little bit of pounding of the table for this guy.

Starting point is 00:06:46 And you scout all these different players because you never know like a Dandre Tillman last year. or remember even Devante Bosby played a key role for Vic Fangio's defense a couple of years back, even if it was just for a couple of games and it didn't end up working out. He was, he kind of had that little flash in the pan there for the Denver Broncos, even if it's just a special team's thing. And Darren Rizzy certainly is watching these guys tape. You get all these informed opinions about a player like Mario Goodrich and you add him to the roster because you believe like there's a chance that we can make something out of this.

Starting point is 00:07:22 there's a chance that even if he ends up on the practice squad in 2025, that down the road, we might be able to get something out of him. Again, he's only 25 years old and he's got some physicality to him. He's got some NFL experience, which I think is fascinating. And then he was productive and consistent in the UFL in the games that he did play. So after going after Dondre Tillman last year, maybe building up some confidence towards making more moves like this in the future, I just think it's healthy. for the Broncos to do things like this.

Starting point is 00:07:54 You know, it's, it's always good to take calculated risks on players when you have a 90-man roster, when you can afford to say, let's get a look at this guy in the offseason program. Let's get a look at him at training camp. Let's see how he does against our young wide receivers. Let's see how he stacks up against some of the other corners that we've brought in. And let's see what he can do on special teams, because that is going to be a major factor in breaking down the bottom five or six guys that make this Denver. Broncos roster. There's going to be players on this roster like Caleb Loner, maybe a third

Starting point is 00:08:27 quarterback, maybe a fourth running back who are consistently inactive on game days. Maybe it's even a sixth receiver, right? Because the Broncos, they might rotate a lot of guys, but they might not use six receivers every single Sunday. So you figure these guys have got to play roles on special teams. If you're a back end roster guy, the Broncos are already going to be allocating roster spots to players who might be draft and stash guys or they might be sign and stash developmental undrafted players. Whatever the case may be, there are certain guys that this team signed or drafted that aren't going to be, they're not planning on having those guys thrust into the lineup right away. They are going to be developing and the Broncos aren't going to subject them to waivers

Starting point is 00:09:11 because they don't want other teams that like these players like Caleb Loner getting out there and being subject to that. So there's going to be guys like that on the roster. So when you bring in a player like this, the expectation has got to be to contribute on special teams right away. And of course, there is impact elsewhere on the roster. As a matter of fact, there's impact directly at the cornerback position, something that we've brought up a couple of times, but might be given a violent shove into the realistic category at this point is a trade for Damari Mathis. Broncos were already deep at corner. Now you bring in another guy with some special teams ability. Broncos could save quite a bit of cash by moving on from Damari Mathis,

Starting point is 00:09:54 and it seems like now that's only a matter of time. We're going to be talking about Demari Mathis's situation coming up next on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. Today's episode of Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by Monarch Money. Ever check your bank account and wonder, where did all my money go, right? Between dining out, online shopping and entertainment, it's easy to lose track. And that is where Monarch Money comes in. It's your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances. And Monarch Money, it's not just a budgeting app, right? It's a complete financial command center. You can track all your accounts, your investments, and you're spending all in one place. So you stop just managing

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Starting point is 00:11:20 as well as what trading him could look like, what teams might be interested in trading for him and what the Broncos might also be looking at to potentially add even more to this roster. A general manager's job is never done Broncos country, but want to also say thank you to all of you that make Locked-on Broncos your first listen of the day every single day. If you haven't already done so, and we really appreciate if you take a couple of seconds, hit subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts as well as on YouTube, where you can also join in the conversation.

Starting point is 00:11:52 It's a lot of fun over there. And you get to be with all the other members of Broncos country who love the offseason as much as you do. But Broncos Country, what do you think about Damari Mathis in his situation? Because ultimately, this feels like it's been sort of writing on the wall for a little bit. Now it feels like Damari Mathis has kind of been on the outside looking in in terms of not only playing time, but maybe even the 53-man roster. And one of the things that we bring up pretty frequently here is the idea of,

Starting point is 00:12:22 of doing right by a player. What does that mean? Doing right by a player means that you want that guy to succeed, right? You want players to make the most money that they possibly can. Sean Peyton referenced this last year when he was talking about Zach Wilson, right? And he said, our job is to make this guy millions, whether it's here or somewhere else. I think that philosophy applies to every position. Of course, you want to have depth on your roster.

Starting point is 00:12:47 Of course, you have to protect yourself in case of injury. You can't just go around willy-nilly and say, hey, we're going to cut this guy because, you know, we want him to get more playing time elsewhere. There are certain situations where you hoard depth and there's other situations where you realize, all right, this guy is not going to play even if we have an injury or two. That might be the scenario with Damari Mathis right now because you look at the Broncos cornerback position. Again, we can go through the names. Pat Sartan, Riley Moss, Jadae Barron, Jekwon Macmillan, Chris Abrams Drain,

Starting point is 00:13:19 Now you bring in Mario Goodrich. There's just so many guys out there that they can play special teams. They can play versatile roles. They can start for you if need be. We saw that last year with Chris Abrams drain, right? The guy looks like he could be a starting corner in the NFL. And he's fifth on the depth chart right now, which is just wildly encouraging depth for this team at a key position.

Starting point is 00:13:43 But somebody like Damari Mathis, unfortunately, is the odd man out with a situation like that. he looked pretty good after bouncing back from a slow start in his rookie season. Injuries have kind of derailed him a little bit. He got some action last year playing in the dime look for the Denver Broncos defense. He's physical. He's athletic. And the ink is probably still drying on his NFL draft scouting report for a lot of teams out there. But one of the things I think really benefits a player like Damari is that the Broncos have

Starting point is 00:14:14 lots of friends in high places elsewhere in the NFL. Let's look at a situation. like Carolina. The Panthers, by the way, rumored to be interested in potentially signing former Broncos safety Justin Simmons. Is Giro Evereaux being the defensive coordinator there, he's got familiarity with Damari Mathis. And he was part of the coaching staff that drafted him initially back in 2022. So the Panthers, would they be interested in trading for Demari Mathis? What about Darren Mucci, who was the assistant general manager in Denver? The New York Jets, a lot of change defensively right now. Of course,

Starting point is 00:14:49 You've got Aaron Glenn as the head coach. He's a defensive backs guy. I don't think it would take much for Muge to convince Aaron Glenn that they need to take a shot on Damari Mathis and make him one of their top three or four corners this coming season. Of course, you've got, you know, Vic Fangio having that, being that is Gero Evereaux is sort of a disciple of the Fangio defense in a way. You really feel like there's a chance there that maybe Fangio and the Eagles would like Demari Mathis, especially because he's a guy who played his college ball at Pitt and you know that they have. you know, those ties that bind the local ties, of course, in the Pennsylvania area. So, I mean, you can use the three degrees of separation any way that you want.

Starting point is 00:15:29 But Damari Mathis is a talented player who's not going to cost you an arm and a leg to acquire, right? I think the Broncos last year, their trade of Baron Browning for a sixth round pick. I feel like that's a pretty fair deal for somebody like Damari Mathis, especially as much as cornerback is a premium position. The Broncos right now, they're set to take on a $3.6 million cap hit for Damari Mathis in 2025, but they could save almost $3.2 million if they trade or cut him. So that to me indicates that there might be a motivation to get him out of the building, to say we could get up to, that would push the Broncos up near $20 million in total cap space right now,

Starting point is 00:16:12 according to overthecap.com. That might motivate a team to do something like that, to say we can not only get this player in a better situation for him, but we can put ourselves in a favorable situation to potentially get some of these other deals done that we want to get like the extensions for Cortland Sutton, Zach Allen, Nick Benito, John Franklin Myers, all of these situations that are currently looming over the Denver Broncos head. It's not that they need to utilize all their immediately available cap space, but certainly having that extra cushion helps, especially when you're dealing with a 35 million in dead money from

Starting point is 00:16:49 Russell Wilson still this year. So that kind of stuff all adds up. And for somebody like Damari Mathis to be counting $3.6 million against the salary cap and a consistently inactive player and not necessarily a core guy on special teams, look, he could become that. He could become the next Kvon-Webster. but if he's not playing at a Kvon-Webster level on special teams, then it benefits him and the team to get a draft pick for him,

Starting point is 00:17:18 drop some cap space or add some cap space, really, and get a guy like that into a better situation where he can thrive. I think that there's a win-win-win-win all around here for the Broncos, another team that needs cornerback help and Damari Mathis, who keep in mind the guy literally gave the shirt off his back to J.K. Dobbins, after Dobbins signed his free agent contract in Denver. The first time we saw him on the field, he was wearing number 27. And everybody's like, hey, that's Damari Mathis's number.

Starting point is 00:17:49 I know JK said that he gave Damari something nice for number 27. But at the same time, to me, that's kind of a small indicator. And I reiterate there, it is a small indicator of a guy that doesn't maybe have much staying power is that somebody gets signed to a one-year contract, just immediately comes in, takes your number. I mean, that's, I don't know, you can read into that what you will, but I think if you read all the different breadcrumbs, all the different tea leaves, everything is leading up to the Denver Broncos likely moving on from Damari Mathis here in the near future. And they have the depth to be able to do that. And they could add to their 2026 NFL

Starting point is 00:18:30 draft war chest in the process or maybe even go after another player. And I don't know, Is there other areas of this roster that you want to tinker with at this point? George Payton, Sean Payton, the front office. They're always going to be tinkering with the roster. But a couple of injuries at wide receiver, maybe put that position in a place where you go after some risk-reward. Guys, we're going to talk about some remaining roster needs that the Broncos could be on the lookout for some depth here in the coming weeks on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Where could the Denver Broncos continue to look for depth for the Broncos for the Broncos? their 91 man roster here as we get into the dog days of the off season.

Starting point is 00:19:16 Could they look at wide receiver? Could they look at maybe linebacker? Could they add to another position of strength like the defensive line or the pass rush? We're going to break it all down on today's episode, Locked on Broncos. But after the signing of Mario Goodrich at the cornerback position, I think it's fair to wonder. Where else might the Broncos try to tinker with the roster as we get into this area of the offseason where the pro scouting department, your general manager. Those guys, they might take a little bit of time off,

Starting point is 00:19:45 but they're going to get right back into the office and start finding, hey, what stones have we left unturned at this point to try to find players who can contribute to this roster? I think a couple of injuries over the course of mini-camp and OTAs for the Denver Broncos could illuminate the potential need for, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:04 boom-bust type guys at wide receiver. Specifically, the injuries that we're talking about are the injuries to Devon Valé, who was looking on track to be clearly the second guy in line at receiver behind Cortland Sutton. Prior to his, what we now know from Mike Cliss, our good friend over there at 9 News in Denver, we know it to be a leg injury, but no specifics beyond that. He's going to be a full go for training camp, but the injury to A.T. Perry as well wipes off another chest piece off the board to where

Starting point is 00:20:36 Perry was one of those guys that you felt like, hey, he could be that wild card with upside. eyes, big playability, speed. He's got four touchdowns at the NFL level already, and he averaged like 20 yards of catch when he was with the Saints. So there's a guy like that that offers you some nice upside, at least, in your offseason program. And then there's somebody like Devon Vele, who is really a core part of your plans for this coming season.

Starting point is 00:21:01 Those two guys being injured over the course of OTAs and mini camp, and both, even with both potentially being ready for the start of training camp, you got to figure. The Broncos brought in a number of tryout guys at wide receiver over the course of the last month or so. They actually signed one of them, Kyrice White, who's kind of the ultimate roster sleeper, special teams guy. But they also brought in the Colorado wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:21:28 And I think that it's really interesting, Will Shepard. So you bring in guys like this, why? Because you want to get looks at players who could potentially be on your 90, 91 man roster with the international player exemption, right? You want to get guys that can be out there and be wildcard options at training camp. You want to get looks at guys who could potentially be on your practice squad at the beginning of the year. And then you just really never know when somebody is going to come out and absolutely ball out

Starting point is 00:21:55 and force a decision on your 53 man roster. So for the Denver Broncos, it's also a matter of you're one injury away now at wide receiver from being in a pretty precarious position, right? You don't want to be in that position to where, all right, we lost Devon Valle in the offseason program. Then Cortland Sutton went down in training camp, hypothetically, of course. But if Cortland Sutton goes down in training camp, all of a sudden you've lost your veteran presence at the wide receiver position. And you're relying on all these other guys to pick up the slack. That's where a player like, I think Evan Ingram could really come into the mix to be that go-to easy button on the offense, right?

Starting point is 00:22:35 but if you lose any other players due to injury or if you start to have this, you know, lose the battle in the war on attrition, right? You start to lose guys left and right. All of a sudden now, you're in a pretty rough position. The free agent class at wide receiver, it's not deep right now by any means. And you don't figure teams are going to be just cutting good players at that position. So if you're the Broncos, right now is kind of the time when you want to look and see what's available for boom or bust type propositions, low risk, potentially high reward signings

Starting point is 00:23:09 at wide receiver that could help out your team. And I think a number of other positions, right? I mean, I think you could look at tight end as well. Where the Broncos right now, you've got Evan Ingraham and nothing else, really, as in terms of proven receiving threats at the position. Remember, Adam Troutman led the team last year with 188 receiving yards at the tight end position. Lucas Krull led the group with 19 catches. it was not good. It was actually miserable to watch.

Starting point is 00:23:36 And so do you try to find a low risk, high reward proposition at the tight end position? Broncos have brought in a number of guys so far this offseason to try and kind of maybe do something like that. They've brought in a couple of tryout players. They brought in the undrafted rookie out of Ole Miss. And so they're taking some looks, but there might be an opportunity to do even a little bit more here. as we get deeper into the offseason. I think inside linebacker, that continues to be a question mark area. And of course, we assume Dre Greenlaw and Alex Singleton are going to be out there at training

Starting point is 00:24:14 camp running around. The Broncos will obviously know that better than any of us talking about the team. But you expect those guys to be out there. And then Sean Payton had some nice things to say about Justin Sernod right at the end of mandatory mini camp. Drew Sanders, getting all the reps that he's getting at inside linebacker is helpful for his development. And then you've got a number of guys who are undrafted.

Starting point is 00:24:36 But then again, one of your top signings on the undrafted free agent market, Karen A. Reed, he was dealing with an injury during mandatory minicamp as well. So do the Broncos take any more calculated risks at inside linebacker? Another area that I think you could maybe double up with the wide receiver position is the return specialist position, right? You want to find guys who can help you out in the event that teams try to start kicking the ball away from Marvin Mims because there's going to be, we assume, a huge uptick in kickoff returns this coming season. Marvin Mims stands to benefit from that. And because

Starting point is 00:25:14 Marvin Mims stands to benefit from that, so do the Broncos. But as Marvin starts to get more opportunities early in the season, we could see teams start to kick away from him. Who are they going to be kicking two? There's no clear answer to that question on the Denver Broncos roster right now. There's nobody that really stands out as a dynamic secondary option in the return game. And heaven forbid, Marvin Mims go down with any sort of injury, right? And so you want to make sure that you have that sort of depth in the return game right now because of how important that is going to be this coming season. So is there anybody out there?

Starting point is 00:25:52 Was there anybody at the UFL level that was returning kicks? Was there anybody that was overlooked in this year's draft cycle who could be an interesting option to come in and help you return some kicks. I think that'll be an interesting question to answer for the Denver Broncos as we go along. But certainly you figure that if this team is adding at the cornerback position, that really nothing is off limits right now for this team because cornerback is probably the deepest position on the team right now. I would say along with the defensive line, which looks really deep and like you're going to have to move on from some really good players,

Starting point is 00:26:27 as well as even you could argue running back. I know it's not the most proven position group, but it's deep enough now that the Broncos are going to either be cutting or moving on from some guys that could surprise some folks. So cornerback getting an addition in Mario Goodrich has got the gears turning for all the armchair GMs out there like myself. And I'm excited to see what the Broncos end up doing here as we approach and we're in the midst of kind of the dog days of the offseason.

Starting point is 00:26:56 And that's when a general manager, and look at his roster, he can do some tinkering. George Payton and the Broncos, they have tons of flexibility. Again, like I mentioned, they have over $16 million in salary cap space currently, and that's not all going to get allocated directly towards, you know, players that are being extended, right? Some of it could end up happening, but the Broncos have flexibility to take some calculated risks on free agents.

Starting point is 00:27:21 We saw them do it with J.K. Dobbins. We could see them do it again. I don't know exactly who that would be. I don't know if there's any veterans out there that they would still be looking at. But when you talk about players that are showing out at the UFL level or maybe some undrafted free agents that get lost in the shuffle elsewhere, this is that time of year where general manager and his front office can do some serious digging to find those diamonds in the rough.

Starting point is 00:27:47 So Broncos country can't tell you enough how much we appreciate you for rocking with us every single day here at lockdown Broncos. If you haven't already done so, again, we'd really appreciate if you hit subscribe, take a couple of seconds, support the show and make us part of your day every single day. And you can also find some short form content from us over there at TikTok. So if you have a TikTok account, find locked on Broncos. Follow us over there. We're going to have short form content for you all year long as well as on YouTube where you can watch our YouTube shorts and get us into your algorithm that way. but Broncos country, there's never an off day in the off season.

Starting point is 00:28:25 We appreciate you for rocking with us. We'll have you covered for another episode of the show tomorrow. Can't wait to see you on the next one.

Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Sign SURPRISE CB, Damarri Mathis Could Be on the Trade Block

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