Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - LOCK IN: Denver Broncos Marvin Mims, Riley Moss EXTENSION Candidates This Offseason

Starting point is 00:00:00 Just like last year, the Denver Broncos before the season extended some of their key players. But will Riley Moss, Brandon Jones, and Marvin Mims be in line for contracts next? We'll discuss 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 up, Broncos country? Welcome to another episode, Locked on Broncos, your daily Denver Broncos podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:34 also the number one sports podcast network in the country. Thanks to all you every day. You're out there for tuning in, making us your first listen, however you choose to do so. We got a lot to break down on today's episode show. We're talking about contract extension candidates. We've got three names here. We'll discuss maybe why Riley Moss may be an in-season candidate for a contract extension. We'll highlight whether or not the Broncos will view Marvin Mims in their long-term plans

Starting point is 00:00:58 considering his all-pro returnability. And on top of that, Bronco safety, Brandon Jones, he needs a new deal. Denver, give him one. We'll discuss all that here on today's episode of the show. Brought to you by friends over there at Fandu. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA finals. Play your game with Fandu, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. I'm Cody Rourke.

Starting point is 00:01:18 Credential Broncos reporter from Mile High Sports, joined as always by Sarah Bedinger, site expert predominantly orange.com. Sarah, show me the money, right? Contract extensions here. Now, the Broncos last season coming into the new campaign of training camp, there was a lot of attention on whether or not Nick Benito was going to get a deal. Zach Allen, how are they going to pay for this guy,

Starting point is 00:01:38 that guy, and everybody else, right? They found a way to do just that. And they found a way to lock in some of their key players. As we look at this roster here going forward, excluding Jaquan McMillan, we anticipate the Broncos will probably reward in free agency. Who are some potential in season candidates here? Let's start off with Riley Moss.

Starting point is 00:01:58 I feel like he's one of the more polarizing figures in Broncos' country. I think there's a split down the middle with him. I think Riley brings a lot to the table. I'm excited to talk about this. But he's probably more so an in-season contract extension candidate, kind of similar to what we saw to Luke Wattenberg. Or do you think that he's maybe a before the season gets here type of candidate? I think he's more of the in-season variety, Cody.

Starting point is 00:02:22 And you brought this up and you mentioned it. I think if you asked to have a one-on-one conversation with 10 different Broncos fans, you could figure out pretty quickly, hey, this person's an optimist or this person's a pessimist based on one question. What do you think of Riley Moss, right? And if the answer is, well, he makes a lot of good plays, but he also has a lot of penalties, you might be talking to an optimist. And if you talk to somebody who's like, Riley Moss cost the team way too many times last season

Starting point is 00:02:49 and they don't even see the positive plays that he makes, you might be talking to a pessimist. And so Riley Moss does, like you said, he kind of divides everybody right down the middle. He brings out the optimist or pessimist or, you know, the cynic, versus whatever it is. But Riley Moss brings that out in anybody when you discuss what he brings to the table. And I would love to be a fly on the wall for those discussions that are happening amidst and amongst the Broncos front office. Because whether or not this team believes in him as a long-term starter opposite Pat Sartan,

Starting point is 00:03:20 will really inform a lot of what they do this offseason. So as we discussed the option of, well, is he an in-season extension candidate or is he a preseason extension candidate. I think he's more to me of the in-season variety, right? You go into the season and you say, hey, go out there, prove to us that you can cut down the penalties and we'll pay you a fair deal. I think that's the most realistic outcome for Riley Moss, right? When you think about his long-term projection for this team,

Starting point is 00:03:48 but I also kind of feel like, okay, they should know that going into the off-season plan because when we get to free agency and we get to start making these trades, you and I have already talked about, like, could Riley Moss be a trade candidate? Could Jada Baron be a trade candidate? I mean, Chris Abrams-Drain, what do we make of him? I think you have to make sure that you're properly assessing that room and utilizing those players as assets now when you can, as opposed to just saying, well, we love our depth of that position.

Starting point is 00:04:18 It's enviable depth at the cornerback position. You need as many corners as you can get. Well, that's true. But at the same time, if you have a first round pick, that's sitting on your bench for a second straight season. Now, I have a problem with that. So not that my opinion really matters in that regard, but that's where I think this whole conversation has to kind of begin.

Starting point is 00:04:38 I have a nice little bonus episode coming out for Broncos country later on today, obviously on the lockdown Broncos feed about Jaday Barron a little bit in his rookie season and even maybe his role in 2026, what that may look like. But like for Riley, I could very much see a scenario here. I know this. I know that George Payton. I know that Sean Payton. they love Riley Moss.

Starting point is 00:04:57 They think he's a terrific player. He's obviously a really good tackler. He's not afraid to come up and put his nose in the dirt there. I mean, they call him the, I'm trying to remember what the nickname was. I don't know if it was, it wasn't the garbage man, but it was like the dirt man or something like that. He is just a guy who just, I mean, he's a grinder. And I would say that, you know, a lot of people, the biggest complaint that people had about Riley was, oh, pass interference. And I think, objectively speaking, we could look at all the past interference call.

Starting point is 00:05:26 About half of them were tic-y-tack BS calls, in my opinion. Certainly Sean Payton agreed with what I'm saying right here on this. But obviously, some of those things were some technique stuff that certainly, yes, he absolutely could have improved on down the stretch. He worked on wearing boxing gloves during practice. And I would say in the final handful of games, Sarah wasn't an issue. Wasn't an issue for Riley. But I can see maybe an in-season contract extension looking like for him being based on how he plays

Starting point is 00:05:54 in the first half of the season, right? probably leading up until the NFL trade deadline or the by week. Hopefully it's another later buy week there. Usually the by week is when organizations, I know the Broncos this year, they reached out to several players during the biweek to start putting the initial framework conversations together on extensions. Luke Wattenberg was one of those guys.

Starting point is 00:06:13 Justin Sternad was one of those guys. So I was curious to see why they didn't do that necessarily there. And I think maybe that motivation kind of came out, the fact like Justin wants to be a starter. So maybe that's why it's like, hey, we didn't necessarily go too far in those conversations. at the trade deadline or at the at the buy week here for riley i could see very much because he's entering a contract year i could see them saying hey this extension is really kind of contingent upon

Starting point is 00:06:36 how things go through the first half of the season right ultimately i think riley comes back to denver i think the broncos find a way to extend riley and i know for some members in brachos country they'll love that some members they're going to hate that but the reality is when you watch riley moss he's got these things that work right he's physical he's got to very good speed. He bulked up. He added, you know, around 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason last year, but he's a fast player. He's got good reaction skills. It's just the grabiness at times you have to adjust on. All of these things, Sarah, are things that are easily workable for a cornerback. It's coachable for a guy to work on. And obviously, we'll see if Denver makes

Starting point is 00:07:15 a cornerbacks coach higher or if Doug Belk will be the guy coaching corners and safeties. But Riley is very much a guy. I'm saying right now, like, I don't know if it's better out there. if you were to be away from Riley. Like, think about it last, like not last season, but the Levi-Wallisher. When Riley was down, it was abysmal. We were praying for just something at the cornerback position. Riley brings that to the table. He's still a growing and ascending player, and I think he'll still be back

Starting point is 00:07:42 in the mile high city. If you had to predict it right now, do you think he gets an extension or do you think that maybe the team maybe just plays their, you know, plays the cards that they have right now and says, hey, maybe we'll go into free agency next year. We'll see where things are at and we'll negotiate. I think Riley Moss does get an extension from the Denver Broncos during the season. Like you mentioned, I mean, last year it was Luke Wattenberg, Will Lutz, Malcolm Roach, even Justin Sernaud getting extension looks from the team.

Starting point is 00:08:07 I think Riley is in that similar boat, you know, where, okay, go out there, prove yourself one more time. We'll have maybe going into the sea. I don't know how these all come about, but I think going, let's say this is the timeline. If I'm, if I'm the GM, all right, I've got my George Peyton hat on. I'm going to Riley Moss with Sean Payton in the room and we're saying this. We're saying, hey, this is what we're looking at for a contract. We're not going to offer it officially maybe until in the season because we want to see a few

Starting point is 00:08:35 things improve. We want to see you cut down on the penalties. We want to see you improve upon making plays on the ball, not necessarily saying, hey, if you don't get three interceptions by the trade deadline, we're not giving you this contract. But I think that's fair to say. When you have that volume of passes coming your way, we want to see a guy make these plays on the ball. We want to see fewer lapses deep down the field. We want to see you continue

Starting point is 00:08:58 to do what you do in terms of bringing that physicality because you're ultimately talking about a four-year investment probably in a player like this and saying by the time you're 30 years old, that's the first time you're ever going to hit free agency. And so Riley has to make that decision as well to say, okay, when I'm going into this season, I want to know by the end of it, am I coming out of this? I'm going into free agents. Everybody wants to have that plan in mind. going into this season. And that's where I say, and I'm excited for your bonus episode two on Jada Barron and his role, what that means for this team going forward. Because if the plan is to lock in Riley Moss to a long-term deal, then Jadae Barron is not a long-term piece of this team. I guess

Starting point is 00:09:39 under the assumption, as you mentioned at the beginning of the show, that J-Quan-McMillan is a fixture in the defensive backfield and is also going to get a deal. So do the Broncos say, nope, we're going to reset the clock with Jaaday. And in that case, then I think you trade Riley this offseason. I really do. I don't think you mess around with the competition. But then again, I've been wrong before. I could be wrong again.

Starting point is 00:10:02 I thought the Broncos certainly drafted Jaude to replace J-Quan Macmillan, and that didn't happen. So maybe it's not as black and white as I'm making it seem, but that's kind of the way that my brain would think about this particular situation. That's fair too. And look, Broncos country, make sure you share your thoughts here on today's episode of the show on Riley Moss. Do you extend him? Do you not extend him?

Starting point is 00:10:24 Where do you stand with this conversation? But coming up next, we're going to talk about marvelous Marvin Mims. One of the most dynamic players here on the Broncos' offense. He hasn't been utilized to the strengths in which he should. But despite that, man, he is an impressive player. The Broncos need to find a way to lock up. We'll talk about what that looks like here on today's episode of the show. Brockos country, today's episode, the show is brought to you by friends over there at TurboTax

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Starting point is 00:11:47 when it comes to his involvement in this offense, which is why an extension now could look like a genius move going into the future. We're going to discuss that and more coming up on today's episode, locked on Broncos. But really quickly want to say thank you to all you every dayers out there that make us your first listen of the day every single day. And if you haven't done so already, Cody and I want to invite you to join the Everydayer All Access Club.

Starting point is 00:12:10 The offseason does not exist for the Every Dayer Club, right? Join the group chat. You can talk about the Broncos year round with us and other members of Broncos country, and you get every episode of the show ad free, plus more exclusive content on the way. Head to the show notes to subscribe and support the show in that way. Today, we really appreciate you considering that. And Cody, let's talk about Marvin Mims, because as we talk about investing in players that their future is kind of hanging in the balance just a little bit, I don't think Marvin Mims, I think you could say because it's a headline

Starting point is 00:12:45 and because it'll grab attention. I think you could say that he's entering a make or break year with the Broncos. But I want to flip the table. I want to turn the tables on that one a little bit. And I want to say that I think the Broncos are entering a make or break year for Marvin Mims. I just, to me, the way these last three years have gone, anytime Marvin Mims gets the ball thrown his way, almost any time. It feels like he's making a either huge play or a clutch play.

Starting point is 00:13:15 One of those two things. It feels like it's one of those two. He's got some of the best hands on the team. We know he's an all-pro return man. But if I'm Marvin, I'm sitting here looking back at these last three years, and I'm wondering, why the heck am I not getting at least 80 targets a season? And why would I sign a long-term deal in Denver, assuming that I'm going to be averaging like three, 400 receiving yards a year?

Starting point is 00:13:40 That's why I think an extension with Marvin now could look genius into the future. Brother, could you imagine, like, you know, throwing Marvin Mims into like the role of Patrick Mahomes. Like if they were turning back to clock, I know it's like them hiring Eric B. And I mean, it's like if Marvin was in that Kansas City offense, he would have been used far more than what we have seen so far in Denver, which is wild because the usage in which we've seen of Marvin, when they actually go to him, when they actually feature him as a focal point of the offense, great things happen. I mean, the clutch catch, not just the one clutch catch. to help set up field goal range against the Giants in the comeback, but he had to catch down the right sideline, beating a back shoulder throw.

Starting point is 00:14:22 And Marvin's not necessarily like the tallest guy. He's a little bit taller than me. He's about 5-11. I'm 5-10, and he makes that clutch play. Go back to the year prior, you know, against the Cincinnati Bengals, the clutch catch on fourth down with double zeroes remaining on the clock to essentially send the game into overtime.

Starting point is 00:14:40 He comes up with that play there. Or he got the classic, He's got Mims. Bang. I see that all over Twitter now in today's game. It's like Marvin and also the touchdown catch from Bo Nix in the division round against the Buffalo Bills. Just once again, the big catch in the AFC championship game, it's like, why has Marvin, and it's not Marvin's fault, but why has Sean Peyton gotten to this point where it's like never had to be down receivers to really see the value that Marvin brings to the table. We've all seen it.

Starting point is 00:15:10 We've all pounded the table for it. In my opinion, you keep Marvin as a punt returner. You take him off of kick return. And then you also put him primarily as your number two wide receiver. I'd say that there's a legit argument that Marvin is wide receiver two here for this current team. I would say he's arguably their best receiver and they don't use him nearly as much. In my opinion, they need to extend him. If you look ahead to our good friends over there at Spottrack, his estimated market value is a $6.4 million.

Starting point is 00:15:40 Right. So a contract extension, the estimated market value in comparison to other deals around the league that are similar here. And I'm reading this off of obviously Spottrack, a three-year $19.4 million extension with an average annual value of $6.5 million. That's comparative to Diamie Brown, Khalif Raymond, Curtis Samuel, Kavante Turpin, and obviously, Joanne Jennings of the San Francisco 49ers in terms of those comparisons there. So I would say, ideally, that makes sense. Denver to bring one of their best weapons back in the mix, that needs to happen here. But if I'm Marvin, Sarah, when you're going through these negotiations,

Starting point is 00:16:18 do you maybe play hardball a little bit and say, you know what? Like I bring a lot of value to the team. I know that. Like Marvin, ultimately, you hear him talk about it. He's a selfless dude. He's all about the team. But if you're Marvin here, you've got to advocate for yourself a little bit. I feel like saying, hey, when I'm featured, look what I can do for you.

Starting point is 00:16:36 To me, that's what I would do if I'm in the negotiation process with the Broncos. 100% and I love that there's still that bridge between the players and Sean Payton. Not that they can't go to Sean directly, but that Davis Webb is now in the seat that he's in for the players to be able to maybe involve Davis in these discussions that he can help. Yeah, and Bo Nix as well. I think Bo should inform a lot of this stuff. And it's got to be a collaborative effort.

Starting point is 00:17:02 I think here's as simple as I can make it in my mind for Marvin Mims. What he's going to be watching in free agency, this spring is he's going to be watching what is the contract that Rashid Shaheed gets from whoever it is, whether it's Seattle or whoever it ends up being, because what Rashid Shahid brings to the table is extremely similar to what Marvin brings to the table in terms of he's a vertical threat. He's an elite punt returner. He can make plays no matter what way you get the ball in his hand. So if you're, I don't know if you're looking up Rashid's value right now. So that'll help us. That'll help us.

Starting point is 00:17:40 Oh, geez. It's hit us with the numbers here. It's an estimated three year, 42.3 million with an average annual value of 14.1 million. That's what I expected. And that's comparative to Christian Clark, Jameson Williams, Kalil Shakur. Yep. Yep. I would say the argument, I'd say Marvin is a better receiver than Jerry Judy.

Starting point is 00:18:00 Yeah. And so I think you're looking at 14 million a year. I think that's the, that's the starting point for a discussion is whatever Rashid Shahid gets. that's what Marvin's price tag is going to be. I think that there's no question about it in my mind. And I think that still will make the Broncos look so smart. If they pull the trigger on that move, this is a move that I would say in the dull time before training camp

Starting point is 00:18:24 or whenever they do the deals for guys during camp or around camp, this is when I would say that I expect this deal to be done. And I think that the vision has to be agreed upon all throughout this offseason. It'll depend on what the Broncos do at receiver. We'll see what they do in free agency. We'll see what they do in the draft. We'll see how they approach the depth on this. Like you said, getting another kick returner into the mix

Starting point is 00:18:48 so that Marvin can be more of a weapon on offense as well. But I think that this offseason, these next two months, will really go a long way in helping us determine, okay, what is number one, the price value of a guy like Marvin? And number two, when you assemble this receiver room, how you inject talent into this roster, will also determine the long-term vision. And then you can get everyone on the same page and say,

Starting point is 00:19:13 Rashid, this is the deal. This is kind of the blueprint that we're going to follow. We did this at receiver in the draft. We did this at receiver via trade and free agency. Now we can move forward and say you are wide receiver X or whatever. We're going to make sure we get you more touches. We're going to pay you fairly and you go be an elite punt returner on top of it all. I think that's this is the easiest, easiest thing.

Starting point is 00:19:36 at the Broncos bungle this one, boy, it'll be disappointing. Yeah, no, I'm with you there. I think that there's so much value to be had here with Marvin. You know, regardless of what they do at receiver, in my opinion, Marvin should not be going anywhere. Marvin's role should not be touched in any way, shape, or form. He should be, in my opinion, one of the safer players at the skilled player positions right now, find a way to lock him up and obviously keep him here in the long term here. Broncos country, let's know how you feel about Marvin.

Starting point is 00:20:03 Do you think that Denver needs to find a way to extend him now, or should they wait? But I think if they wait and he goes off, that price tag, you know what's going to do? It's going to jump. So you know what you should do? George Payton has excelled in getting ahead of the market value and getting a great deal for the player,

Starting point is 00:20:18 but ultimately a great deal for the team as well before somebody else comes in with some funny money and screws up the rest of the market. I mean, when you look at like the Pats or Tand deal, the Benito deal, those are incredible bargains. The Zach Allen deal, incredible bargains for the Broncos. Quinn Miners, example here. So I think that there's a lot of value here from Marvin going forward.

Starting point is 00:20:40 Make sure let's know him in today's episode show. But Broncos country coming up next. We know how important the safety position is. And Brandon Jones, since they signed him, he has been so valuable to the operation and he is due for a new contract. We'll talk about why not the Broncos are going to give him that here on today's episode of the show. Fandu is the sponsor of today's episode of the show. And if you've ever wanted to experience the NBA finals live and in person, Fandu is giving you the chance to turn that dream into a reality with their NBA sweepstakes. And here's how it works.

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Starting point is 00:21:43 especially in Vance Joseph's scheme. And even though he's coming off of an injury, he's set to be ready for the offseason program and also for training camp. But his contract is coming up and he's going to need a brand new deal. Will the Denver Broncos look at that? We'll debate it here on today's show. I just want to say thank you once again real quick. Broncos country.

Starting point is 00:22:01 Thanks for being in every day. here. Thanks for making us your first listen and making us part of your day, however you choose to do so. Sarah and I, we got nothing but content coming for you here, folks. You get an episode every day, plus you get a 10-minute bonus episode every single day on top of that. You get interactive YouTube shorts, polls, and so much more. So thanks for being part of this community that we have built here. We appreciate you so much here. Sarah, let's talk about Brandon Jones here. Obviously, his contract is coming up, coming off of an injury where I'd say we probably figured out how valuable he truly was to the operation. I think going back and watching film from he and whofonga last year,

Starting point is 00:22:36 early on in the season, it was trying to get a feel for how they play next to each other. About maybe week five, week six, you really started to see they had this comfort to where they could play right next to each other without half of to communicate. They knew how to play off of each other really well. I think they offer a different set of skills to be able to play in the passing game, but also coming up against the run.

Starting point is 00:22:57 Brandon Jones, getting a new deal. Do you think that happens here for the Broncos? Is he one of those guys you think they take? care of before the season. I think absolutely he is, Cody. And certainly it was a, just like we mentioned with Marvin Mims, great foresight with a player like Brandon Jones. And even as we're kind of, you know, just riffing on his future with the team, it kind

Starting point is 00:23:17 of makes me believe that free agency, I know this is not in our script or anything, but you know what? Some of these free agent deals that you made with guys like Brandon Jones and Malcolm Roach and wasn't necessarily the, oh, these are the, this is the all-star cast that we all dreamed up in our free agency predictions. And we really hoped for the Broncos to get the guy that's projected to be at the top of the market. But it's really these moves that you make to go after players who are not necessarily, you know, underrated. They produced.

Starting point is 00:23:47 But players like Brandon Jones, who just need an opportunity to go out there and prove that they can do it on a full-time basis. So I don't know, maybe Broncos country keep that in your back pocket as you. Who did we want in free agency prior to like, I don't think Brandon Jones was really on our radar. prior to free to see who were the safeties that we were talking about specifically that year i mean i've got spot track pulled up here that was 24 correct if i'm not mistaken yeah that sounds right or 20 yeah 24 yeah so that was the 24 year let's take a look at the safeties that were there that year i think ah we did talk about i don't think we talked about jamaal adams i think we talked about who was it kia no not kianu i don't know who we talked about because really i don't know who we talked about

Starting point is 00:24:31 Because really I'm looking at it right now. I'm like, I'm not seeing anybody here. Actually, I don't think it was that. I think it was 2023. It had to have been at this point. Let's take a look. Let's take a look here. I was going to say, right.

Starting point is 00:24:45 I mean, Jesse Bates was a free agent in 2023. Jordan Poyer, C.J. Gardner Johnson, Jimmy Ward. So we talked about Bates. Jimmy Ward. I remember that. Okay, now those names are starting to make sense. Well, let me see. Brandon, because Brandon Jones.

Starting point is 00:25:01 Brandon Jones came to the Broncos. It would have had to have been 24, dude. Yeah, he was 2024. And it wasn't even, I'm not even seeing it on spot track when I'm looking at the safeties from that year. 2024 free agent. Antoine Winfield, Kyle Dugger, Cam Curl, Xavier McKinney, Julian Blackman, Jordan Fuller, Jordan Whitehead, C.J. Gardner.

Starting point is 00:25:31 Johnson like yeah we talked about those guys there's a lot of players yeah okay and brianne jones i'd say in comparison to all those guys probably ended up being the most solid the most well-rounded the most i would say impact producing player out of all those guys like cj gardner johnson if i'm not mistaken he wasn't where he landed very long they moved on from him and then he ended up what signing as a free agent to detroit yeah and then now he i think he finished last season with the Bears. He's kind of been a, you know, a problem for some teams. So yeah, it's like, okay, you go into free agency, you put together your dream list. And then all of a sudden, the Bronco signed somebody out of left field. And you're like, wait a second, who the heck is

Starting point is 00:26:13 Brandon Jones? He even has like a, you know, John Doe kind of name. And you start to say, okay, they're putting their faith in a player who hasn't necessarily gotten the opportunity yet. So I would say, like, keep that in the back pocket as we approach free agency with, you know, the likes of, you know, like a Tyler Algier type. Of course, every, every free agent is overanalyzed these days. So, like, fans know Tyler Alger, but when you're saying, hey, let's go after Breece Hall, Travis E.TN, like, all these big names. Then you sign Tyler Algear, and you're like, he's going to be our top running back.

Starting point is 00:26:44 It's like, well, you know, don't, don't be trying to fool me, you know, but Brandon Jones is that it can work out and be a third contract type of player, right? Because that's the thing is that you sign a guy who was, what, at the time 24, 25 years old or something when he signed with the Broncos a few years back. And now he's only 26, 27. And you're looking at the possibility of, I mean, we could get him for, he's already played two great seasons. He's going to give us a third.

Starting point is 00:27:13 We could get him for three, four more great years after signing him and taking that risk. And that is the, Brandon Jones is the type of guy you want on this defense. I think certainly, Cody, he's going to be one of those guys during camp, whatever, the off season, he's going to be a contract extension guy. Yeah, and he's got going into this year, he's got a $9.2 million cap hit. I mean, a dead cap if they were. I mean, they do have a potential out, essentially, would only be $1.8 million. But there's no reason to move on from a guy like Brandon Jones.

Starting point is 00:27:43 And here's some things, too, that are in his contracts. He earned this last year. He earned a $500,000 escalator because he played 70% of the snaps. In 2026, if he plays 80% of the snaps, that's going to trigger a $1 million escalator for him. So, I mean, I think if you look at contracts, the best bet here say, you know what, let's extend it. Like, we'll give him a signing bonus. Let's extend him. And then we don't have to worry about necessarily taking care of one of our better players.

Starting point is 00:28:08 It also goes into this whole conversation, too, about player development, right? Devin Key. Do you view Devin Key as a guy who can maybe step in and start for you? What about, you know, in the house guys like J.L. Skinner is set to be a free agent after this year as well. And we haven't necessarily seen him really play any snaps of defense outside of a few. few over the course of his career. So there are questions here about, okay, well, you got Hu Fonga. He's a veteran guy now.

Starting point is 00:28:33 Brandon Jones, these guys seem to play really well alongside each other. Why mess up the flow and the rhythm, right? You need to have good depth behind your starters, obviously. But this is not where I see the Broncos saying, you know, we're going to be cheap here. We're going to rely on our player at a Velma. We're going to have a younger guy come in. Brandon Jones is that dude, in my opinion. So I agree.

Starting point is 00:28:52 I think he's one of those guys that gets one before the season comes around. And he's not going to break the bank. Like safeties, they don't break the bank. When we're talking about investing in these types of players, that's the great thing is like great safetys in today's NFL. Some of the best might get paid. Like, I mean, we're talking top two, top three guys at the position. They might get paid like a lower tier cornerback or something like that. But when you're talking about a really good safety, a consistent starting safety,

Starting point is 00:29:21 the percentage of the salary cap pie that they're going to take up is going to be bordering on insignificant compared to the impact that they make on the field. So for a guy like Brandon Jones, you're talking about somebody who's helped you build the culture that you want to see. He's consistent. He's a playmaker. He's tough. He's good for the locker room.

Starting point is 00:29:42 He's been great for the organization. So what you're saying is that you can keep that player around by paying him a fair market deal that isn't going to substantially impact your overall cap high. it's just it's a no-brainer amongst no-brainers so i think as long as he's healthy cody and as long as the the medical stuff is cleared from this past year shoot yeah i mean yeah he's going to be one of the the easiest like you and i we can even pre-write our little script for when we have a bonus episode of the show it's just a no-brainer the broncos will do that let me ask you this okay he signed a three-year 20 million dollar contract initially

Starting point is 00:30:20 they included a five five point five million dollar signing bonus 11 million guaranteed overall on that deal and an average annual salary of 6.6 million, so to speak. Do you think that a deal or an extension for him would be very similar to that? What do you think the ballpark range would be there for him? Well, I think you adjust for the, obviously the salary cap, you know, going up and you look at percentages, right? So I don't remember exactly what the salary cap was back in 2024 when he signed at that average annual value. But I would guess, you know, 270 something, I think. 270 something so i mean we're talking about maybe six six times five you know five percent of your cap right i mean roughly so if i'm doing the math right in my head as we're sitting here okay so it wasn't that

Starting point is 00:31:09 it was 255.4 million which was a record and now it's going to advance significantly this offseason right so when you're talking about an extension you're looking down the road which the cap after this year is probably going to rise up above what three 15 three 15 three $320 million. I mean, it could even be more than that. I think. Yeah. So what's 5% of $320 million?

Starting point is 00:31:33 I mean, that's the question we're maybe asking here and I'll look it up is just. I'll pull up my calculator for you. Yeah. Look at this. Do you say $320 million? Yeah, 320. So 16. So I don't know if it'll be that much.

Starting point is 00:31:46 But I would say in the realm of, you know, 12 to 16 million per year. That's what I would guess. And that's a fair contract for a player like that. that's that's an interesting question though because we're now projecting hey what is the you know top 15 salary average annual value going to be at the safety position for 2027 and beyond like if he's got a cap hit of nine million this year I mean maybe you look at more so something on the lower end maybe you look at like double you know that salary that he's had 12 million on an average annual value is Kyle Hamilton the highest paid safety in the NFL right now that sounds right Oh, yeah, he is. He signed a four-year, $100.4 million contract, including a $26.9 million signing bonus, $82 million of that guarantee. Like, you talk about funny money, my gosh, his base salary, right? At least, you know, in terms of where things are at for him, it's like 2026, it's $1.6 million. But then in 2027, that jumps up to $17 million, Sarah. Like, oh, my gosh, that's like going into it. Ah, that's funny money, man.

Starting point is 00:32:53 That's like a $41 million dead cap in 2026 for him. That's, holy moly. The top safeties in the NFL right now, Cody, are projected market values between $10 million and $14.2 million. So, I mean, if that's all that it takes, if that's the highest it goes right now is $14 million, shoot. I mean, get that deal done yesterday, in my opinion. Yes.

Starting point is 00:33:20 Get it done. Broncos Country. Let's know your thoughts here on today. episode of the show. What did you think of our three extension candidates here for the Broncos? Share your thoughts. We appreciate you as always. Sarah and myself, we'll be back tomorrow for another episode of show. Catch out. Not catch out. Check out the bonus episode on Jada Baron coming out later today on your locked on Broncos feed. We got you covered every single day here. Appreciate your Broncos country. See you tomorrow.

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