As the Denver Broncos head into their offseason, Sean Payton and his coaching staff will gather in the next two weeks to highlight their rosters strengths, weaknesses, their coaching staff, and what their plan of attack will be for NFL Free Agency which begins March 12th and 2:00 p.m. MT.
Denver Broncos three biggest questions going into the offseason
After a 10-7 season and a trip to the NFL Playoffs, the Denver Broncos are in a better position now that they’ve found their franchise quarterback Bo Nix. Now, the team has cap space and draft capital to make moves and build this team around Nix while he’s on his rookie deal. In order to do that, they’ll have to look at answering three of the biggest questions surrounding them going into the offseason.
Will the Denver Broncos change the running back room in 2025?
Internally, the Broncos lone free agent running back will be Javonte Williams. There have been a handful of questions surrounding whether or not the team will look at bringing him back, but all signs point to them looking elsewhere in 2025.
Sean Payton has already acknowledged that the Broncos will utilize more than one tailback, which is the modern approach for a large portion of the league considering the volume of touches the position and players see there. 2024 was widely inconsistent when it came to Denver’s rushing room. There were moments where Williams looked like his old self, and then there were moments he couldn’t get a single yard over the course of several games.
Toward the end of the year, Williams transitioned into the role that Samaje Perine played for Payton in 2023, while Jaleel McLaughlin saw a majority of the team’s carries down the stretch. Still, their rushing output wasn’t enough.
While there aren’t going to be any Saquon Barkley’s or Derrick Henry’s hitting the free agency market, there are several backs who could end up fitting in well with Payton and rookie QB Bo Nix.
Here is a list of some of the top and/or underrated free agent running backs who will be available in March to negotiate with.
- Aaron Jones – Minnesota Vikings
- Najee Harris – Pittsburgh Steelers
- AJ Dillon – Green Bay Packers
- Nick Chubb – Cleveland Browns
- Ty Johnson – Buffalo Bills
- Kareem Hunt – Kansas City Chiefs
- Jordan Mason – San Francisco 49ers
Of the backs on this list, these names on paper seem like they’d be a great fit for what Payton is looking for, either as an RB1 or as an RB2. Audric Estime will be going into his second season with the team and showed some flashes this past season, but he’ll need to show that he can consistently handle more of the workload.
While a lot of fans are already busting out the mock drafts, which is way too early by the way — a lot of them want the Broncos to take Boise State rusher Ashton Jeanty. His body of work at college is incredible, but Payton and his staff would have to know deep down that he could be a game-changer at the NFL level the way that Saquon Barkley is for the Philadelphia Eagles to truly justify a round-one pick.
If the Broncos decide to go the free agency route, Chubb would be an interesting option. I know there would be some skepticism because of his injury history, but my counter to that point would be to take a look at what Beau Lowery and the Broncos training staff have done to take the team from one of the bottom-ranked teams in the league with games lost due to injuries to first last year and second this year. Chubb is an option I’d take a hard look at.
He and Dillon from the Packers are both coming off of season-ending injuries but could find themselves landing in a better spot with the Broncos, whose offense is in need of what they can provide. On top of that, Payton and Denver’s front office had a chance to see Dillon in the team’s training camp practice with Green Bay, where Dillon unfortunately suffered the injury.
Other intriguing options, like Mason from the 49ers and Johnson from the Bills, would be viewed more as RB2 additions versus them being a true RB1, but the coaching staff’s opinions could be entirely different than mine.
Will the Broncos add some pass-catching weapons for Bo Nix?
This is one of the most important questions going into the offseason. While Courtland Sutton is the most productive receiver for the Broncos and Nix, Denver and their soon-to-be second-year quarterback need more help.
Of course, Marvin Mims will continue to grow and expand in his role while Troy Franklin and Devaughn Vele continue to develop, but the Broncos need to add a legit playmaker either at the wide receiver position or tight end position to truly have the offense take another step forward.
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With $52M in cap space to work with, the Broncos could make an aggressive push for Cincinnati Bengals standout Tee Higgins, who will have a lot of interest on the open market, if the Bengals can’t find a way to retain him and Ja’Marr Chase. Higgins would be a perfect fit alongside Sutton, Mims, and guys like Franklin and Vele and gives Nix a legit weapon that opens up more one-on-one opportunities for everybody else.
If they can’t get a wide receiver, adding a tight end that threatens an opposing defense in the passing game would be the next best option. Denver didn’t truly have a threat emerge at that position this season, even though they had solid contributions from Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins.
Could a Tommy Tremble or Juwan Johnson help them upgrade the position? Absolutely. There is also the possibility the team looks into Penn State’s Tyler Warren or Michigan’s Colston Loveland who could be impact players right away on offense if added into the equation.
Regardless, giving Nix a legitimate weapon at receiver or tight end is paramount.
What will the Broncos linebacker room look like in 2025?
As it stands today, the Broncos will have three players at the off-ball linebacker position that will be unrestricted free agents in March. Justin Strnad, Cody Barton, and Zach Cunningham will all hit the unrestricted market, where they’ll be free to negotiate with any team come March 12th.
Alex Singleton is making great progress in his return from an ACL injury, but the Broncos won’t rush him back until he’s ready. With that said, there are certainly questions surrounding the position itself. As we’ve seen in the NFL Playoffs, strong linebacker play is important for the postseason.
After he returned from Achilles surgery, Drew Sanders moved from the edge back to off-ball where he started when he was drafted. He could be an in-house candidate to start next to Singleton, but even then, the Broncos don’t possess any depth right now besides Levelle Bailey, who was an undrafted rookie last season.
It’s possible the Broncos will look at Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zach Baun, who Sean Payton drafted when he was in New Orleans, but if the Eagles win the Super Bowl, there’s a strong chance he will stay there with Vic Fangio. Denver might be compelled to evaluate the position in this year’s NFL Draft despite tight end and running back appearing to be bigger priorities on paper.
But right now, defensively, it’s safe to say that inside linebacker might be the biggest question mark for the team going into 2025, and this offseason will be an important one for Payton in terms of trying to address the clarity at the position. Plus, with Denver in the market for a new linebacker coach, it could change the entire outlook of the position room in 2025.
