Denver Broncos: Team interested in bringing Billy Turner back

According to Mike Klis, the Denver Broncos are interested in bringing back versatile offensive lineman Billy Turner, who has started as a tackle and guard.

Denver Broncos offensive lineman Billy Turner was once a high third-round draft pick of the Miami Dolphins out of North Dakota State. The Minnesota native struggled with injuries in his time with the Dolphins and was part of a pretty significant re-shaping of the offensive line in Miami a couple of years ago.

Turner, along with another former high draft pick Dallas Thomas, was let go by the Dolphins after two years with the team, and a horrible game against the Titans.

Turner was quickly scooped up on waivers by the Baltimore Ravens, but the Ravens suffered some unfortunate injury issues shortly after they claimed Turner, and he was sent back to the waiver wire.

The Broncos put in a claim this time around, and Turner began his development with Denver, whose head coach at the time was Gary Kubiak.

Kubiak is still with the Broncos in a senior personnel adviser role, and the team made a somewhat surprising decision to keep Turner in 2018, signing him to a one-year contract extension to compete for a roster spot as the swing tackle.

Turner did exactly that and then some.

He has played a pretty critical role for the Broncos in 2018, starting as a right tackle and left guard in place of the injured Jared Veldheer and Ron Leary, respectively. Turner has done a pretty tremendous job at both positions, but with Leary under contract beyond this season, it seems like the 27 going on 28-year old could be a solution for Denver at right tackle.

Mike Klis did an interview with Orange & Blue 760 radio and said the team and Turner both have interest in a reunion beyond this season.

Of course, as Klis notes in that interview, this will come down to dollars and cents. Turner’s versatility has been a huge plus for the Broncos, and his ability to play well over the course of the season has certainly increased his value from the $2 million he made in 2018.

With that said, how much can the Broncos afford here? What’s a reasonable price? They have overpaid for offensive linemen in the past, but Turner seems to have developed into a keeper unlike Donald Stephenson or Menelik Watson before him.

A multi-year deal for Turner would be preferred and hopefully the Broncos would be able to sleep well at night knowing they have a pair of bookend tackles competent enough going forward, but re-signing Turner would also create an interesting scenario with Jared Veldheer, who cost the team just $6 million in 2018 and is also a pending free agent worth consideration into the future.

Turner has the advantage of being younger than Veldheer, but both players have done a fine job in their respective spots this year.

The Broncos will look at the best bang for their buck, and a four-year deal for Turner worth somewhere in the range of $24 million sounds like a pretty solid deal for both parties.