Nobody wants to see no. 30 leave the Mile High City, but there appears to be at least a chance that restricted free agent Phillip Lindsay will not be back with the Denver Broncos in 2021.
According to James Palmer of the NFL Network, the Broncos have still not decided what restricted free agent tender they are going to give the 2018 Pro Bowl selection Lindsay.
The #Broncos still haven’t decided on the tender for restricted free agent RB Phillip Lindsay per source. They do want him back. We’ll see what they decided.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) March 15, 2021
You’ve got to wonder what is going on there for Lindsay and the Broncos. The second-round restricted free agent tender would undoubtedly be enough to keep other teams off of Lindsay, and would keep him in Denver for one more season (at least) for less than $4 million.
What gives?
Are the Broncos really trying to save roughly a million bucks and risk Lindsay going to another team (for no compensation) by giving him the original-round tender?
Apparently, the decision has not been overly easy for them to make despite the fact that, on paper, it seems very easy if they truly value Lindsay.
With that being said, if Lindsay is on his way out of Denver one way or another, the 2021 NFL Free Agent market is pretty strong at the running back position and we could see the Broncos possibly search for a veteran player to pair with Melvin Gordon that fits Pat Shurmur’s offense better than Lindsay might?
Let’s take a look through some possible names in a deep group.
Although the Jacksonville Jaguars dumped the former fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft last year, he became a major asset for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their banner run.
At the age of 26, there’s no doubt that Fournette still has plenty of upside but he’s not just upside — he’s a proven commodity at the position.
Fournette has run for over 1,000 yards twice in his four NFL seasons and his playoff run with the Buccaneers was fantastic.
In four games, he had nearly 450 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns. He’s been excellent over the last couple of years as a receiver out of the backfield and has just one fumble in the last three seasons.
Aaron Jones of the Packers just got a contract worth $12 million per season. The Broncos may not be trying to pay another free agent running back big money after Melvin Gordon’s deal, but if they could get Fournette on a multi-year deal worth similar to what Gordon got on an average annual basis, it might be a good investment for them.