Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - Denver Broncos Veteran WR Options For Bo Nix In NFL Free Agency

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

If the Denver Broncos chose to look at the veteran wide receiver route during NFL Free Agency, why would Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, or Amari Cooper be great options for Bo Nix as he prepares for his second season in the NFL. What do these receivers bring to the Broncos offense and how would they complement Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Devaughn Vele, and Troy Franklin? 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 could go with a more cost-effective approach to adding a veteran wide receiver. We'll name three receivers we think will benefit Bonnix and the Broncos and be at a good market value. We'll break that down and much more here 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. Broncos Country was happening. And welcome in to another episode, Lockdown Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day for all your Broncos news, content coverage, analysis, and more that you get every single day, all year long, including the offseason, because for the true fan, there is never an offseason. Make sure you become an everydayer. And thank you to those in Broncos country who make us your first listen of the day.

However, you choose to do so, we bring it for you every single day weekend here for the best Broncos coverage on the web. you get that here. Lock on Broncos. I'm Cody Rourke. Broncos reporter for Mile High Sports. joined, as always, by Sarah Bedinger, site expert, predominantly orange.com here. We got a jam-packed episode for it. It's a busy week this week. Broncos country, the NFL scouting combine is here. And this week we'll hear from George Payton. We'll hear from Sean Payton. We got a lot to break down in terms of what they say this week. You get all that here on the show. But on today's show, in particular, as NFL free agency approaches on March 12th, we talked a lot about wider series. There'd been some trade conversations

about Cooper Cup, Debo Samuel. We'll highlight three veteran receivers that are cost-effective options. We'll wrap things up by looking at Amari Cooper, who's with the Buffalo Bills this past week. Then we'll take a look at Mike Williams, who spent time with two teams and played in over 18 games. But we're going to kick things off by highlighting a former AFC West rival who could be a perfect pairing with Bo Nix, Cortland Sutton, the other receivers in that room. And that is, Sarah, Keenan Allen. Yeah, Keenan Allen, who obviously helped out a rookie quarterback this past season. with the Chicago Bears and played a big role for that Chicago offense after a slow start.

A lot of Bears fans calling for Keenan Allen to be released early on in the season, but he ended up being a big piece of Williams development down the stretch last year. And could honestly, Cody, be a big piece of Bo Nix's development this coming season. I think when it comes to the wide receiver position this offseason, my number one motto is keeping an open mind, right? I mean, typically, and the everyday listeners already know this, like our personal brand for free agency is to get the younger guys, right? You want to get guys that you can build around in free agency players who could be maybe core pieces of your roster in free agency, but that's not

always exactly what your team needs. Sometimes you need a short term, I don't want to call it a bandage or anything like that, but sometimes you just need a short term option that can really elevate the level of your team or raise the floor of a room, as I like to say. And Keenan Allen could very well be that guy. I mean, he could still get open. He can still make plays downfield. He still has strong hands. He's still effective in the red zone. And if you watch any Chicago Bears last year, Cody, you know that for a fact. And that was with the Bears having a terrible offensive play caller early in the year who got fired Shane Waldron in the middle of the season. And then you replace him and have a completely new play caller in the middle of the year. And that was when Alan really started

to turn things up and have a couple of big games. So I wouldn't be shocked at all. if he's an option for the Denver Broncos here in 2025 free agency. Well, and I think when you look at where Denver's at right now, too, they've got some decisions they've got to make, right? Because Cortland Sutton, the other top veteran 10-year receiver on the team is entering the final year of his contract. Are they going to extend him? Obviously, I think that might be a storyline.

We might hear from George Peyton, Sean Payton at the Combine when they speak to the media on Tuesday. But then I also look at Keenan. He's going to be entering year number 13 in the league, Sarah. And that right there, for a receiver to play over 13, to get to year number 13, that is incredible. credible. It's rare. It's hard to do. And I think based on when you go back and you watch the film on Al last year, you were 100% spot on that bear's offense. Our good friend Tim Jenkins would

always do film breakdowns on Caleb Williams and the Bears' offense. And he's saying, man, this offense is the worst offense that I've seen. And it has nothing to do with the players, has everything to do with the structure, the play call of things. That's certainly influenced. I remember Jackson Smith and Jigba was not a very big fan of when Shane Waldron was in Seattle, so to speak, in terms of the type of routes that he would run. And I'm certain that was a factor there for, you know, guys like DJ Moore and obviously Keenan Allen, Romo Dunes, who's now over there as well. Like that was a very talented receiving room.

Like Caleb Williams had three really good pieces plus a solid tight end and Colt Comet. So for me, it's just like, all right. So what was the story? You go back and this is what I did over the weekend because I wrote about this on mile high sports.com. I went back and I watched Keenan Allen. Sarah, he can still run effective routes and space inside the. goal line, right? And obviously, those are areas where Sean Payton continues to want the Broncos to get better, to continue their ascension there. And they improved in the Reds zone this year.

But what did we say all throughout last year, throughout the handful of games that the Broncos had in the early part of the season, even in the midway point, it's like, man, Cortland Sutton is shoulder in the load here. And if the Broncos could just get someone like the Broncos had, as we would continuously bring up. And Broncos fans, too. But I can, you know, if Tim Patrick was on this team, the Broncos would have, you know, their offense would be better because they have another veteran guy who's sure handed. Keenan Allen can still run those effective routes. I think he can be a possession type guy for you.

You're not asking him to run the deep balls, but you're asking him to be like, hey, it's third and seven. You need a guy to run a little bit of route where he can shake a defender. Keenan Allen can still do that at this point of his career and his estimated market value, according to our good friends over there at Spottrack is a two-year deal, $22.1 million. So that's around $11.1 million average annual value.

So you can maybe do, you know, a two-year deal. First, you know, second year's a team. option, so to speak at that point in terms of what you want to do. This isn't like, hey, you're bringing in Keenan Island to be here long term. This is, hey, you're getting a veteran receiver for a second year quarterback just so you can help have a security blanket option alongside Cortland Sutton. And you can continue to aid in the development of Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Devon Valey, right?

You know, we've had episodes on here where we've maybe looked at the pros and cons of trading for a Debo Samuel, trading for a Cooper Cup here. I would much rather the Broncos go this approach, Sarah, with going with a veteran option and free agency that's more cost effective for you where you don't have to give up any draft capital and you're getting guys in the building who can help Bo Nix continue his ascension into year two. To me, this is the mindset behind all of this. When you look at the Broncos wide receiver room right now, Cody, what is lacking?

You have a bunch of big play guys, right? You got Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin, Devon, Valle, those guys work well deep down the field. And in the quick passing game, you've got Marvin Mims, who's really effective in that area. What is this receiver room really missing? It's a receiver that can work in the short to intermediate area. And I think that that's abundantly clear based on what we saw last season.

I'm not saying Keenan Allen has to be your number one free agent target, but this is the primary reason why he should be, I guess why Broncos country should keep an open mind about him being a priority addition because he would upgrade substantially. the short to intermediate passing game and bring some variance to that wide receiver room that currently doesn't exist. You don't have a player that gets open well in the short to intermediate area. And so bringing in a Keenan Allen adds variance to the receiver room. It adds another veteran who's, you know, he's been through the ups and downs of the AFC West. He knows what it takes to compete in this division. He's been with the Chargers for most of his career. So I think having

that familiarity with the division, kind of having that extra little chip. on his shoulder, you know, playing two games against the Chargers already. And then obviously Keenan Allen hates the Chiefs as well. I would imagine, Cody, based on the battles that they've had through the year. So that's a plus in his favor. And I just kind of like the idea of a tough, grizzled veteran like that coming into the room and being part of that team. Because I've mentioned this before, for the Broncos to upgrade at wide receiver this off season, I don't, I'm not going to, I'm to be super critical on this show if they go after a comparable player to somebody like a Tim Patrick or a Josh Reynolds who is like a very clear wide receiver four like somebody that is is not

going to push the other players for snaps or push the other players for targets. I mean, those guys are nice, would be nice additions to the offense. Absolutely. You give them a couple of targets per game. But again, where's the variance? Where's the ceiling? Are you raising the floor of the room? What are you actually doing to upgrade that position? because if you just continually go after these 28, 29-year-old guys who are established fourth receivers or fifth receivers in an offense, that seems like you're spinning your wheels in a very unnecessary way. So it has to be, to me, somebody vastly different than a Tim Patrick or Josh Reynolds. And I think Kenan Allen is that step above.

He's that notch above inability, proven production, and variance from what you currently have. Well, I'm glad you brought that up because I was going to say, if you weren't going to say it, I was like, you know, Sarah, you brought up some other points on some previous shows, too, about how if Denver adds a vet, it can't beat guys that you brought in like the Josh Reynolds of the world or even, you know, as you mentioned, you know, a guy like a Tim Patrick, you look at adding a guy like Keenan Allen who's gotten a proven skill set. He's gotten a proven production repertoire. And here's the thing, too, he played in 15 games last season for the Chicago Bears. The issues prior in L.A. were always injuries, right? And L.A. for some reason, always happens to be one of the more injured teams around the NFL. And then I go to mention Bo Lowry. No, Bo knows exactly what he's doing. So you get a guy like Keenan Allen in here alongside Cortland Sutton, and it doesn't interfere with your younger guys in any way, shape, or form. That right there maximized your window. But it also doesn't prohibit the Broncos for maybe going out in the NFL draft

and even adding a playmaking wide receiver as well, because you think about it, Cortland's in the last year of his deal here in 2025, barring an extension. And then you probably wouldn't have Keenan Allen for more than a year, maybe even two years at this point. And you've got your younger guys behind them. To me, this is where, you can preserve who you are without taking away weapons here for Bo Nix

Nix and adding a guy to the mix like Keenan Allen. And obviously, Branko's Country, we want to hear from you on this one. Would Keenan Allen be an ideal fit to pair alongside Cortland Sutton for Bo Nix in this young, wide receiver room? We believe so, but we don't know how you feel. But we're not done yet, Branko's Country. We still got another receiver we're going to talk about another former Los Angeles charter set to hit free agency.

Could Mike Williams be the perfect, low-risk, high-reward option here for Bo Nix? We'll tell you why we believe just that. Here on today's episode, Lockdown Broncos. Today's episode Lockdown Broncos is brought to you by our friends over there at Fandu. And as you know, Fandu is America's number one sportsbook. And when the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started as they push to the postseason. And there's no better place to get in on it than Fandul, America's number one sportsbook. Because with Fandu, you can place live bets throughout the game.

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That's Fandual.com for your shot at $100. and $50 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandu, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. As the Denver Broncos look to upgrade their wide receiver position in the 2025 offseason, we're talking about a handful of former division rivals. And could Mike Williams, who went from Nathaniel Hackett with the Jets to Russell Wilson with the Steelers last year, become a Denver Bronco now under Sean Payton?

Well, we're fixing to find out, as Gary Kubiak used to say, Broncos country. but hey, if you're not already an everyday listener of the show, go ahead and become one because we've got plenty of Denver Broncos offseason content coming your way at the NFL scouting combine this week, NFL free agency, just around the corner. So you know your boys, Cody and Sarah. We got you covered every single day on Locked on Broncos. And for those of you that are everyday listeners,

shout out to every single one of you. Mile High salute to all of you out there. Cody, let's break down the option of Mike Williams. I know you wrote about this over at Mile High Sports. I think the listeners will be interested to know, like, why is this an option that the Broncos should consider? Mike Williams, a former first round pick, big body guy, very proven injuries have obviously led to the point that we're at in his career right now, which is, I guess you could call him a journeyman. He's been on three teams over the last two years and certainly about to be on his fourth year coming up. But I guess in terms of the cost to acquire and what he's proven in the past, I mean, he could be one of the more intriguing options.

out there. Yeah, no, and look, I think a lot of this too, when I was going back and I mentioned here, like obviously the criteria here is a cost effective option, right? And I think from Mike Williams, he could be a low risk, high reward type of guy because, you know, he had the major injury that obviously impacted him. And then the charters ending up, you know, saying like, hey, all right, we're going to move on. Like Mike Williams, you're going to go to Pittsburgh at this point. I mean, not Pittsburgh. You're going to go to New York. And then New York ends up sending him to Pittsburgh. But the thing with his time in New York, he was coming off that injury. Remember when he played the Broncos in week four? He was still on a little bit of a pitch count there for that

Jets offense coming off the injury. But Madden, he makes some really tough catches against Denver in that game, including a really great cover two catch right in between Riley Moss and Brandon Jones there down the right sideline. And I look at Mike Williams. I'm like, all right, this is a guy who got thrown under the bus by his own quarterback, Aaron Rogers, ended up going to Pittsburgh. And if you go through and you watch him in Pittsburgh. I mean, he obviously wasn't the top option there. You got George Pickens. You got a handful of other guys getting reps. You got Calvin Austin getting more reps there and building more, you know, repertoire with Russell Wilson last year. And then you got Pat Fryermouth at tight end. So like Mike Williams wasn't like a big

part of the Steelers offense. But man, he made some big plays for them, some big catches. And what surprised me, Sarah, and this was a storyline. And we can obviously bring in Chris Carter, you know, if obviously, you know, Mike Williams gets signed by Denver this offseason. but the thing is, is Mike Williams would make a big play catch and then the offense would stop targeting him. They wouldn't even go his way afterwards to me, which was a little mind boggum. But then again, that's exactly what happened with the Broncos at times like a big receiver, a big play receiver makes some plays. It's like, wow, you know, Marvin gets two catches in the first half against the commanders in 20, 23,

he's over 100 yards and he doesn't see a single target in the second half. That's kind of how it felt like with Mike Williams in Pittsburgh last season, was that part of the offensive, you know, play calling personnel, you know, rotations or was that quarterback stuff with, you know, Russell Wilson. But Russ had a couple of really good dime throws to him down the sideline. It's like for Mike Williams, you're not bringing him in to be this, I'm going to go over 150 yards in a game. I'm going to be a deep ball threat.

It's you need a possession guy. You need a big catch, big frame. That's where Mike Williams is at. And look, he's six foot force, Aaron. What is one thing that we have always seen for Sean Payton? Sean Payton is raved about publicly. He's told us he loves. the size of the wide receiver room.

And you add another 6 foot 4 guy into the mix who, I mean, I think we can all objectively sit here today and say Mike Williams, a massive upgrade over Lord Jordan Humphrey and a great veteran addition alongside guys like Troy Franklin, Devon, Valle, Marvin Mims, and maybe even an A.T. Perry, who's a 6 foot 5, like Denver as they're building their 90-man roster, this type of move would not hurt the Broncos from a financial standpoint, but it gives them potential with a guy like Williams who has proven to be a big play capable wide receiver, a clutch time wide receiver, and a Kansas City Chiefs killer, Sarah,

as we have seen him before, he's made big plays in a handful of games against the Chiefs when he was with the Chargers. 100%. And the one thing that I always think about when I think about Mike Williams, Cody, is body control. I mean, he's got one of the best in terms of,

you know, getting the feet down at the sideline, using every inch of his frame to his advantage. I also think it's interesting to point out here, as I was just thinking about it, as you were talking about it, the very first year that Joe Lombardi was the offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Chargers was back in 2021. That was actually the best year of Mike Williams' entire NFL career. I mean, he had, let's see, 1,146 receiving yards, nine touchdowns, and average 15.1 yards per reception. So interestingly enough, as now there's a connection on the Denver coaching staff. as well when you look at former Chargers guys that played under Joe Lombardi there, certainly the familiarity could come to his benefit.

And at the very least, you have to think that those guys, you know, know each other fairly well still at this point. So that could be a possibility. And I think that when you look at Mike Williams, how often this past season when we were doing post-game shows, the lockdown Broncos, we talk about the timing of deep ball passes from Bo Nix and how much a guy like Mike Williams erases the issue. of timing on deep balls. Why? Because he has a ridiculous catch radius and he's able to make plays that, hey, a quarterback is doing his job by putting the ball out there. And it's not always going to be a

perfect bread basket throw, right? That's why the NFL wide receiver is paid to be an NFL wide receiver. Because if the quarterback puts the ball in your area code, your job and what you get paid millions to do is to go get the freaking ball. And how many times did we see Troy Franklin, you know, even Marvin Mims early in the year. Cortland Sutton at times, those guys whiff on deep balls from Bo Nix. And we're sitting there saying, man, if those guys had caught those passes, how different would the game have been? I feel like Mike Williams is one of those guys that over time, he has proven he's one of the best. I mean, how many frustrating plays do we see from him with Justin Herbert at quarterback? And we're just sitting there like, how the heck did he catch that ball? Yeah. How did he make

that play? That's who Mike Williams is, even if it only happened. a couple of times a game. I know I said in the previous segment, like, yes, differentiate between the Tim Patrick's and the Josh Reynolds. I think Williams is a step above those guys in terms of what he's proven over time. I know that the injuries are there. It's funny, Cody, this is a side note. As much as Broncos country hates the idea of all these injury prone players, they certainly love the idea of Tim Patrick being on the team, which makes absolutely no sense. But I digress. So Mike Williams is a guy that I feel like can upgrade an area of the team that last year was a bit problematic, not because of Bo Nix, but because of the wide receivers. Well, and I would even say too with Mike, before his major injury, he was largely considered to be wide receiver one for the Chargers.

And there were a lot of conversations. They had to pick between Mike Williams or Keenan Allen and then ended up, the Chargers made the decision to go a different direction with both of those guys, which was very odd to me. And obviously, I think this past season, when you look at it, the charters. I couldn't help but when I was like, man, you know, they got Ladd McConkey, who's very, very good. He's going to be a problem for years to come here. But, man, they could have benefited from having, you know, either Keenan Allen or either Mike Williams, one of those guys just for Justin Herbert, I think would have made a tremendous difference, even in the postseason against the Houston Texans. So I think it's an evident upgrade at the

position for Denver over a guy like Lord Jordan Humphrey. And it's not taking away reps from your younger guys there. And look, Broncos country is always saying, Like, hey, you know, Denver needs to go. If they're going to add in free, they need a guy who can create separation. I don't agree with that necessarily, Sarah, because I think they have a guy in the roster who's great at creating separation,

that they have high expectations for going into the season, who I think he's going to take a massive jump forward. And that is Troy Franklin, who's got really good size to him. He's got explosiveness. He's got the speed downfield. I think it's going to click this year. I think Troy's going to be the breakout candidate.

We're going to finally see take another step forward this year. But I think bringing a guy like Mike Williams to pair alongside Cortland Sutton. and these guys is going to help him achieve that and build maybe to where he can have a bigger role even going forward when maybe Sutton or even like one of these veteran guys may not even be on the team anymore. It's allowing him to step into that position. I think that's another benefit. And ultimately, low risk, high reward, estimated market value at one year, $4.4 million deal according to Spot Track is what Mike Williams market looks to be right now. He played in 18 games last season, Sarah, 18, nine with the Jets, nine with the Steelers.

I would take that here in Denver immediately with this unit with Bo Nix. But Broncos Country, as always, we want to hear from you on today's show. Your thoughts on Mike Williams being a potential fit inside of the Broncos offense. We're not done yet. We still have a lot to break down here on today's show. And we're going to take a look next at why Amari Cooper and his tie to even the Broncos coaching staff could be a boost for Broncos quarterback Bo Nix in 2025. The fourth quarter action of today's episode, Lockdown Broncos is here.

We're going to dive deep into Amari Cooper. his connection to the Broncos coaching staff. And could he be an option here for Bo Nixon, 2025 as Denver hopes that he can avoid that sophomore slump that so many people worry about every single year on the interwebs here? Real quick, I want to say thanks to all the everydayers and first listeners out there on Broncos country for consuming us, however you choose to do so,

we bring you daily Broncos covers that you can't get anywhere else. So if you're not in everydayer just yet, make sure you become on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We got a brand new episode for you that you can listen to. that's fresh and it looks at every side of the coin. The best objective Broncos coverage that you can't get anywhere else. That's our promise to you here on Locked on Broncos. Sarah, let's get into our final veteran free age option.

As I was looking through the list, right, I've seen some other names thrown out there that Broncos country likes like the Darius Slatens. And certainly he would be a nice veteran option, but I'm talking about cost effective at this point. Lower cost, Slaten's market would be a little bit different. I think it'd be close to $14, $15 million per year. and when you have Cortland Sutton, who's already set to become a free agent after this upcoming season in need of a contract extension, I'm thinking to myself, is that the path Denver really wants to take at this point? I don't know. So I was like, let's look at cost effective options.

Amari Cooper is a very interesting name here. Obviously, he played with Josh Allen, the Buffalo Bills, you know, was finally traded away from the desolate land that was the Cleveland Browns. And immediately when that move happened, I was like, man, this is going to make Josh Allen and that builds offense even better, even more. well balanced and certainly think of Mari Cooper thrive. I know he missed some games with the bills due to an injury, but could he leave Buffalo potentially in free and see and maybe be a Denver option here? I think we got away the pros and cons of that, but there is a connection currently on the Broncos coaching staff that maybe makes it a little more appealing.

Yeah, definitely a connection with wide receivers coach Kerry Colbert, who was an offensive analyst at Alabama back in 2014, which was Cooper's final year with the Crimson Tide. an All-American season the year before he got into the NFL, which crazy enough. I mean, I think Cody, he's only going to be 31 this coming season. He's been in the NFL since 2015, which is kind of bizarre. He's already got over 10,000 career receiving yards, and he's only going to be 31 this summer. So he's been in the league for a long time.

He's been around the block and back. He's played for a number of different teams at this point, including I guess this is now our third. We've got the hat trick of former division rivals because he started his career. as a member of the Oakland Raiders all the way back when. And so to me, Cody, I like the idea of Amari Cooper based on the fact that, you know, he does a little bit of everything well. And he is that guy that he can get open right away.

Just like we talked about with Keenan Allen, he's a great route runner. And he's somebody who also has big playability because back in 2023, I mean, that was not that long ago. He averaged over 17 yards per reception and was actually kind of dominant at stretches of that 2023 campaign for the Cleveland Browns. And so I'd be interested by Amari Cooper. Again, every single one of these players, I think is price dependent. Like you said with Darius Slayton, if you're talking about $15 million a year for one of these guys,

I mean, shoot, just go draft somebody and figure it out in that way. But if you're talking about something that can benefit the team at a team-friendly price, I think Amari Cooper is a really intriguing option. Well, if you look at Pro Football Reference, right, you obviously have a pull the player's name. but they usually have like some nicknames right there. Amari Cooper's is the route runner right there. Obviously 6 foot 1, 211, 111 pounds. He's not 6 foot 4 height, but man, this is a guy who, as you mentioned,

can run routes at an effective rate. Last season in 14 games, he had 44 catches for 547 yards. That translates to around 12.4 yards per catch. And he had four touchdowns. And where he was at, unfortunately, in Cleveland, it wasn't the greatest sample size. I mean, Cleveland, as we saw that, that was in abysmal. system that was an abysmal franchise that they were going through all the ups and downs when

Deshaun Watson was healthy man he looked terrible and you couldn't establish real rhythm there with Murray Cooper but then you know you go to a place like Buffalo where you have a young guy like Keon Coleman you got the Khalil Shakir's you know it opened things up a little bit for a Murray not to be really just the featured guy but to be a guy who's heavily involved and will be probably a very significant role player for you at that point and you know you factor in the fun idea of you know hey bringing on another Alabama player you know obviously the practice, I think, between he and Patrick Sartan would be very fun to watch at wide receiver and cornerback when they do one-on-ones in training camp. But for me, I think Amari Cooper, you look for

a veteran guy who, you know, I know some fans are going to say, well, he had some drop issues in Cleveland. I think he was frustrated in Cleveland, to be honest with you. And he didn't really see to see that frustration from him in Buffalo, but this is where I got to ask you, Sarah, like what about the Broncos if you are George Payton and you're trying to sway a guy like like Amari Cooper, say, to leave Buffalo, who, you know, Denver lost two in the playoffs in the wildcard round, what is your selling point to Cooper here inside of this offense, knowing that, hey, it's probably not going to be a long-term deal. And this might be a one to two-year option here for him at this point when he might be on the back end part of his career. Yeah, I think the selling

point is really that, hey, we're coming for Buffalo. We're the team that's going to be the next Buffalo, which is living in the, you know, the final four or the final eight of the AFC playoffs. competing with Kansas City. And I think you have to view Bo Nix in that same light. I know Broncos country a lot of times will cringe at the thought of Bo Nix being the next Josh Allen, which I mean, yes, that's hyperbolic in many senses. But at the same time, you want to have that quarterback that's going to be living in the AFC playoffs.

So you can pencil in every year like we can right now with the Bills and Chiefs. It's like at what point is it going to be the Broncos and X or whoever it might be as teams that are just living in the playoffs. And you've got to sell all these veterans on that. Not to mention, I think, I mean, personally, Cody, would you rather play in Buffalo or Denver if knowing what we know about the weather late in the season and things like that? And knowing what we know about now, the training staff in Denver, things like that. I know Buffalo was also, to their credit, very healthy going into the postseason.

But at the same time, I mean, shoot, there's a lot of different aspects of this Denver Broncos team, the ownership group, how they've taken care of players post-refer retirement, Sean Payton making sure that he gets guys their bonuses. I don't know exactly what was going on with Cooper late in the year. Cody, remember there was a chance that he was going to potentially miss the play. Yeah. I can't remember of what was the personal issue that he had going on. I think there was a death in the family.

Okay, okay. So that kind of thing, too. I mean, I think obviously Kerry Walton Penner, you know, she's obviously huge in terms of getting involved in the players' lives and making sure that these guys are taking care of post-playing days. And so I don't know, I think those things can all be really appealing when it comes to maybe joining Denver

and leaving a team like Buffalo. I think my selling point here for him would be, hey, look, you have a chance. Obviously, with Buffalo right now, they're going to be a favorite to get back to the AFC championship. And certainly, I think Amari's goal maybe is to win a Super Bowl. And I think Buffalo gives them the best chance to do it.

But if there's a young team that maybe has a chance to shock a lot of people, I think it could be the Denver Broncos. And, you know, I think maybe even looking at Amari Cooper in a situation, you know, in Buffalo, you are going to be the top guy, right? But you're going to be featured quite a bit. Or do you want to be in a position now where it's like, hey, you're going to join Cortland Sutton who's going to have obviously a lot of targets, a lot of volume. You've got these young guys like Marvin Names, Troy Franklin, Devon, Valey. They're going to be continuing, you know, being a position to get reps at this point.

You're not going to have as much of a feature role, but you can have a very crucial role. It depends on where Amari's at. what is his motivation at this point this late in his career as he's entering NFL free agency. I think he'll return to Buffalo if I'm being honest with you, but I think Denver would, I think they'd miss out if they don't at least try to make a pitch to Mari to come to the Mile High City. And look, Broncos country, what would you sell Amari Cooper on at this point trying to sway him from going back to Buffalo versus coming to the Denver Broncos? Make sure you let us know, however, you're listening to Lockdown Broncos. but that'll wrap up today's episode of show.

And we want to thanks, Broncos country once again, all the everydayers, the first listeners out there. Thank you so much. Tomorrow's episode of the show, we got something great for you as well as George Payton, Sean Peyton. They're set to meet with the NFL media tomorrow at the NFL Combine, and there are three burning questions that we hope we get answers from when they meet with the media. Tomorrow will break down what those are and more on tomorrow's episode, Lockdown Broncos.