The Denver Broncos lost in heartbreaking fashion in the AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots, but the real loss was the week before, as Bo Nix's tragic broken ankle essentially ended Denver's season. Now set to embark on one of the most important offseasons in team history, the Broncos will have to ensure the right moves are made.
Denver is free from Russell Wilson's dead cap charge after long last and will have money to spend. The Broncos will also have some NFL Draft capital to play around with - many hypothetical trades have already circulated the NFL landscape, suggesting that the team could swing a first-round pick for an upgrade on offense.
The momentum is trending toward the Broncos being one of the more aggressive teams in the offseason, and we're only about one month away. Well, there's already been some key roster movement, as 10 now-former Broncos players saw their contracts expire recently.
10 Denver Broncos players are now unemployed, as their contracts expired with the team on Monday
Here are the 10 players, and there are some familiar faces that did get some game action in 2025:
Broncos contracts that expired today:
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) February 2, 2026
—Ben DiNucci
—Delarrin Turner-Yell
—Marcedes Lewis
—Michael Bandy
—Geron Christian
—Brandon Johnson
—Tanner McCalister
—Elijah Moore
—Patrick Murtagh
—Kyrese Rowan
There are some notable names on this list. Marcedes Lewis was an in-season signing in 2025 and helped out for a five-game stretch for the Broncos, actually getting one start. Lewis was nothing more than a blocking presence for the offense.
Michael Bandy was a practice squad player who was brought up in four games this year, actually catching a key touchdown pass against the Green Bay Packers. Bandy also had five punt returns.
Elijah Moore is another very notable name whose contract expired with the Broncos.
Moore was another in-season signing and has actually been a semi-productive wide receiver, but he didn't make much of an impact for the Broncos. Moore's status is an interesting one, though, as he's still just 25 years old and did have 200 receptions across his first four seasons in the NFL. Moore being brought back on some type of futures deal might not be a bad idea at all.
But, for the most part, many of these players will not be brought back in any capacity by theBroncos for 2026. The one thing to note here, though, is that as long as Sean Payton is here, he'll continue to seek out 'his guys,' even to a fault.
Many fans, for example, did not really understand why Michael Bandy stuck around for as long as he did, as he was not necessarily performing well enough when given chances. He had a key muffed punt earlier in the season against the Houston Texans, for example.
These 10 players seeing their contracts expire only gets the Broncos closer to the free agency period in March, where some legitimate, high-end moves can be made to further the roster talent. As it relates to the practice squad, the Broncos could bring back some of the younger guys to hope for some untapped potential to be reached.