The Denver Broncos brain trust of Sean Payton and George Paton are gearing up for the NFL Combine next week, where they’ll meet with the media ahead of the start of NFL Free Agency. Who are three in-house players who have the best chances of re-signing with the team this offseason?

Three Denver Broncos who are trending toward returning in NFL Free Agency

With NFL Free Agency on the horizon beginning on March 12th at 2:00 p.m. MT, the Denver Broncos will look to retain some in-house free agents as well as upgrade several positions. Which players that are set to become unrestricted free agents are trending toward returning to Denver?

D.J. Jones is a crucial piece for Broncos’ defense

D.J. Jones is the highest priority free agent on the Broncos roster going into March and bringing him back will be important if the defense hopes to continue to improve against the run.

Jones has expressed his desire to return to the team, and a handful of his teammates, including Zach Allen, have publicly acknowledged how Jones helps them succeed in the trenches. On top of that, Jones is a true nose tackle that can anchor inside of the A-gap. When you look at stats, they don’t necessarily paint the full picture that quantifies his impact on the defensive interior.

He’s not necessarily a defensive interior rusher who’s going to account for a lot of sacks, but he plugs well against the run and is hard to move inside, which allows the inside linebacker to fill gaps more efficiently. He had 42 tackles this season and played in all 17 games, which is another mark that supports his return. Jones’ availability has been big for the Broncos defense, and with Malcolm Roach rotating in with him, the defense has a level of continuity at defensive tackle they haven’t had in a handful of years.

According to Spotrac, his estimated market value is a one-year $11.1M deal, which makes sense for a player who is entering his ninth year in the league, who still has the positional impact he does.

Zach Wilson is best backup option for Broncos’ QB Bo Nix

Sean Payton loves the idea of quarterback rehab, which is why he initially had the Broncos trade to get Wilson away from the New York Jets. Wilson has a specific set of skills and traits that Payton thinks translates well to his scheme.

Wilson grew more comfortable in Payton’s scheme as training camp progressed and we even saw some flashes of confidence from him during the NFL Preseason, and his best overall performance in the team’s final preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

He was important enough for Payton to keep on the 53-man roster as the third quarterback, versus risking him to waivers to place on the practice squad. As pointed out when we took a look at three players who were trending towards not returning in NFL Free Agency, Jarrett Stidham’s price point was a reason he was the primary backup to Bo Nix last year.

Wilson has all of the traits that are similar to Nix’s physical attributes and seems like an ideal fit for Payton and the offense behind Nix.

Tremon Smith’s special teams value is important for Broncos

As the Broncos move into 2025 with Darren Rizzi as their new special teams coordinator, it would be a surprise if Tremon Smith, their best special teams player, is not back on the roster.

Payton values the impact of special teams in areas where a lot of coaches ignore the third phase of the game. Some special teams blunders down the stretch factored into Payton moving on from Ben Kotwica, so even though there will be a change with coaching directly in that phase of the game, maintaining continuity is key.

Smith is one of the Broncos best core four players, grading out this past season as their top ranked special teams player for the second consecutive year in a row. He’s an ace as a gunner and jammer, and players who can excel at the rate in which he does at those positions is hard to come by.

There’s an argument that Denver could always go younger here, especially with the flashes of Kris Abrams-Draine on special teams last year, but Smith is the perfect player to have on your roster, especially without signs of him slowing down.

He won’t factor much into the Broncos cornerback rotation, which is the biggest mark against him on paper, but that hasn’t mattered much to this coaching staff and shouldn’t matter now.