Denver Broncos have competition for Billy Turner
The Denver Broncos would like to keep impending free agent offensive lineman Billy Turner, but they will have competition for his services.
The Denver Broncos would like to retain free agent offensive lineman Billy Turner. That has been out in the open for quite some time now.
It would be nice if the team could get a deal done before Turner hits the open market, and perhaps something can get done during or after the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine, but there is expected to be competition for Turner’s services.
According to Mike Klis, the Broncos could be looking at some competition from the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals, specifically.
What makes the Vikings a fit? Well, the Broncos initially acquired Turner in 2016 when Gary Kubiak was the team’s head coach and Rick Dennison was the offensive line coach. Kubiak and Dennison are now together in Minneapolis.
The Cardinals hired Sean Kugler this offseason away from Denver, and Kugler spent this past season working with Turner. Kugler was in charge of interior linemen, specifically, and Turner enjoyed success playing guard in Ron Leary’s absence.
The Broncos have their own recruiting piece in Mike Munchak, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman and widely regarded as the best offensive line coach in the NFL today.
There’s also a clear opening at both right guard and right tackle in Denver this offseason, and it seems like Turner is really the only player Denver has prioritized in-house, along with John Elway stating the team would like to have Jeff Heuerman back a while ago.
If the Broncos are unable to re-sign Turner, they would likely set their sights on another free agent offensive tackle in this year’s free agent class. It’s a pretty strong class, overall.
Nobody is really talking about Jared Veldheer, who played well for Denver when healthy this past season. The Broncos could also be interested in Ja’Wuan James, who was nearly acquired in a trade last year and who knows Chris Kuper well from Miami.
Pre-combine mock draft for the Broncos. dark. Next
Trent Brown of the Patriots is another really good player on the market and Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello knows him from their year together in San Francisco.