Broncos: Top 11 takeaways from George Paton’s pre-free agency presser
8. Team wants to add multiple CBs (Draft, FA)
The biggest need on the Broncos’ roster is arguably at the cornerback position.
They are going into the offseason with Michael Ojemudia, Bryce Callahan, and Essang Bassey as the projected starters.
Vic Fangio alluded to the fact that the initial plan last year was to have Callahan playing the nickel role, but injuries pushed him outside where he wound up being the best corner on the team.
With that being said, the Broncos cannot afford to go into the 2021 season just staying status quo at cornerback. This is a good crop of free agent players and a really strong all-around crop of draft prospects as well. Fangio said the team wants to add through both free agency and the draft at that position.
Fangio: “We need to” add to the cornerbacks corps, and there are good ones in both the draft and free agency.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 4, 2021
The Broncos have to have a strong top four at the position at the very least. Bryce Callahan is entering a contract year and both Ojemudia and Bassey are coming off of injuries.
At this point, it remains to be seen what kind of free agent the Broncos would pursue at cornerback, but if the plan is again for Bryce Callahan to be in the nickel and only play outside in case of emergency, it would not be surprising if the free agents the Broncos targeted were primarily outside guys.
Vic Fangio obviously loves versatile players but he talked in his press conference about how teams are getting into trouble by thinking cornerbacks can only fit one certain type of mold. He alluded to the fact that there are not enough corners for the 96 starting spots around the league when you are trying to be too specific about the type of guy you look to add.
With that in mind, just about any free agent the Broncos would add will not likely preclude them from going after someone in the first two rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft.