The Denver Broncos theme so far this offseason has been continuity, and that is the case so far with the tight end position after the Broncos brought Adam Trautman back on a three-year deal.
Denver Broncos bring TE Adam Trautman back on three-year deal
After initially acquiring Adam Trautman in the 2023 NFL Draft in a trade, the veteran tight end has landed himself a three-year deal, which will keep him on the team for the foreseeable future, before he was scheduled to hit free agency as an unrestricted free agent option for a handful of other teams.
Mike Klis was first to report the news on Sunday. Trautman’s return signals continuity with at least two players at tight end who were on the roster last season, alongside Evan Engram who is expected to be on the 2026 roster.
In 2025, Trautman was the team’s No. 1 tight end, playing 651 snaps (57%) according to Pro Football Reference. However, Trautman only had 20 catches last season for 195 yards and one touchdown. From a volume standpoint, that can’t be the case in 2026 with that amount of snaps, especially with Engram playing significantly fewer snaps than Trautman.
The veteran tight end is the Broncos’ best blocking tight end and is often utilized as a decoy receiving option, where he is actually an underrated pass-catching target, but he doesn’t see a large volume of looks on a week-to-week basis.
This move is fine for the Broncos if they go out and sign a playmaking tight end option, but if Trautman’s return means that the team also runs it back with the same room as last season, that would be problematic, especially with the need to give Bo Nix more playmakers as he enters his third season.
Trautman is the second in-house player retained today after the team also brought back linebacker Justin Strnad on a three-year deal.
Monday is the start of the legal negotiating period, and there will likely be a handful of deals that are ‘agreed to’ but won’t be official until Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. MT when the new league year starts.