The Denver Broncos have assembled an impressive 89-man roster in George Paton’s first year on the job as general manager. It’s been an absolute treat to watch a first-time general manager work after spending so many years with another team, seeing his perspective on how the Denver Broncos were built when he took the job and what areas he felt needed to be addressed.
Throughout the offseason, NFL teams are allowed to carry 90 players on their roster, so I intentionally started this post by noting that the Denver Broncos currently have just 89.
Among those 89 players, the Denver Broncos’ official roster lists five at the tight end position:
- Noah Fant
- Albert Okwuegbunam
- Eric Saubert
- Austin Fort
- Shaun Beyer
As of this particular point in time, players like Saubert, Fort, and 2021 undrafted free agent Shaun Beyer seem to stand a pretty great chance at cracking the Denver Broncos’ 53-man roster.
Noah Fant battled through injury to play in 15 games last season. Albert Okwuegbunam, who has been on the field at OTAs, will need time to get back to full speed recovering from a torn ACL in 2020.
Saubert was brought in shortly after the 2021 NFL Draft as a camp body who has played nearly twice as many special teams snaps as he has offensive snaps since being drafted in 2017.
Fort is coming off of a second consecutive season-ending knee injury, though his talent when healthy is fascinating.
All of this to say, the Denver Broncos could very well be in the market for some proven, capable help at the tight position. General managers have to plan for a worst-case scenario, and if Noah Fant goes down at all, the Denver Broncos tight end group is going to be reliant on Albert Okwuegbunam coming off of injury and a rather small group of guys with very little or no NFL experience.
Let’s take a look at nine guys who are either available as free agents or could be available via trade that the team should look into bringing in.
1. Troy Fumagalli (Broncos)
The Denver Broncos drafted Fumagalli in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Wisconsin. The “Phantom Finger” missed his rookie season with an injury but bounced back to catch a touchdown pass in each of the next two seasons for the Broncos, and just narrowly missed having two touchdowns in 2020.
His first NFL touchdown came in Minnesota against George Paton’s Vikings…
First career TD for @TroyFumagalli‼️#DENvsMIN pic.twitter.com/PdJ9q8l22b
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 17, 2019
Fumagalli is worth consideration for his experience in Pat Shurmur’s offense and his obvious ability to fit in that way. It’s telling that the Denver Broncos, to this point, have not re-signed him, but as you get deeper into the offseason, these kinds of moves tend to be made.
Fumagalli doesn’t present the highest upside of anyone on this list, but he’s certainly going to bring some much-needed depth at the position in case of injury.
In terms of snaps played, he was the Broncos’ TE3 last season.
2. MyCole Pruitt (Titans)
We can’t put together a list of possibilities without trying to somehow tie a player back to general manager George Paton.
MyCole Pruitt has been in the league since 2015 when he was drafted in the fifth round by the Minnesota Vikings out of Southern Illinois.
At 6-foot-2, 251 pounds, Pruitt is shorter than your ideal tight end in today’s NFL, but he’s got some explosiveness and speed (38-inch vertical jump, 4.58 in the 40-yard dash) along with above-average length despite his lack of height.
He played most extensively offensively with the Tennessee Titans in 2019 with over 400 snaps but he’s also been a core special teams guy in recent years with over 300 special teams snaps the last two seasons.
He showed some giddy-up in 2019 with nearly 11 yards after the catch per reception and since joining the Titans, he’s averaged over 12 yards per catch on 20 receptions with four touchdowns.
Although not heavily featured as a receiver, Pruitt has made the most of his limited opportunities in that regard and has been a strong run blocker as well.
At 29 years of age, he could provide the Denver Broncos some outstanding depth, at least for a season.
3. Tyler Eifert (Jaguars)
Injuries derailed Tyler Eifert’s career when it appeared he was en route to potentially racking up 10 or more touchdown catches on an annual basis at his peak with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Eifert averaged a touchdown per game in his Pro Bowl 2015 season, catching 13 touchdowns and putting himself firmly on the map as a former first-round pick who had struggled to get things going in his first two years in the league.
Eifert’s breakout 2015 season was followed by a brutal stretch from 2016-18 where he played just 14 games. Still, in those 14 games, Eifert managed to catch six touchdowns among his 48 receptions, proving his efficiency when he actually was able to be on the field.
Starting in 2019, it was “prove it” time for Eifert, who was still just 29 entering the 2019 season. He ended up playing all 16 games for the Bengals, catching 43 passes with three touchdowns among them.
In 2020, Eifert got a shot with the Jacksonville Jaguars, playing in 15 games with two touchdowns on 36 receptions total.
Considering the fact that Eifert has missed just one game in the last two seasons and is still just going to be 31 this season, he would be well worth a one-year flyer for the Denver Broncos as a red-zone weapon with a massive catch radius and strong hands.
With the cost to acquire Eifert likely being minimal at this point in time, he is a low-risk, high-reward veteran proposition with a history of high touchdown production.
4. Trey Burton (Colts)
In addition to looking for players with connections to the front office, it’s never a bad idea to try and find guys with connections to the coaching staff.
Those connections always matter when it comes to finding free agent fits in the NFL and Trey Burton is no different.
Burton has a connection to Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur from his early days with the Philadelphia Eagles. Shurmur was with the Eagles from 2013-15 and Burton was signed by the Eagles in 2014 as an undrafted free agent.
Shurmur was no longer with the Eagles by the time Burton had his real breakout in the offense, but he would certainly have familiarity with him and Burton has proven himself to be a quality option in recent years.
He reached his peak in 2017/18 with the Eagles and Bears in 31 games with 11 touchdown catches and obviously the Philly Special touchdown pass in the Eagles’ Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots.
In the 2018 season with the Chicago Bears, Burton finished as one of the league’s top run blockers as well.
He struggled to stay healthy in Chicago in 2019, was a cap casualty, and found a home with some of his former Eagles coaches in 2020 with the Colts. Playing in 13 games, he caught 28 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns.
As a solid veteran option with ties to the coaching staff, Burton would be a tremendous veteran addition for the Denver Broncos to consider.
5. Zach Ertz (Eagles, trade)
If it were up to me, I would be blowing up Howie Roseman’s phone trying to figure out how to facilitate a trade for Zach Ertz, who has been staying away from Eagles OTAs in anticipation of a possible deal being made.
Ertz has been one of the NFL’s best and most productive tight ends in recent years, but Philadelphia is resetting their roster and Ertz is not in the future plans at this point.
Because of that, he could probably be acquired for relatively cheap in a trade and the Eagles would likely be thrilled to offload his $8.5 million base salary for this season.
George Paton has certainly done a good job of manipulating the salary cap this year with the figure going down due to the pandemic, but the Denver Broncos could afford Ertz for this season and he would undoubtedly be an asset.
The question here is fit.
Would Ertz be willing to play a TE2 role behind Noah Fant? Would Ertz’s presence take too much away from Okwuegbunam?
Those things are valid points and likely will prevent the Denver Broncos from making this kind of move. Still, the possibility is out there until some other team trades for him and Ertz would be a great outlet for whoever ends up winning the Broncos’ quarterback competition.
He has familiarity with Pat Shurmur as well dating back to Shurmur’s years with the Eagles (2013-15 together with Ertz).
6. OJ Howard (Buccaneers, trade)
Although he was limited to just four games last year, OJ Howard has big-time talent and was one of my personal favorite prospects in the entire 2017 NFL Draft class.
In his first three NFL seasons, Howard showed off that potential with 15.5 yards per reception and 12 touchdowns on 94 receptions. He’s excellent as an in-line blocker and has explosive speed and YAC abilities.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t exactly shown that they’re looking for salary cap relief with all of the big moves they have made in 2021 to keep the Super Bowl band back together, and having OJ Howard in the fold for an entire season along with Rob Gronkowski and Cameron Brate would certainly be a fun luxury.
With that being said, trading Howard would give the Buccaneers more than $6 million in cap relief and would give the Denver Broncos a former first-round pick to try and put with their other ultra-athletic tight ends Noah Fant and Albert Okwuegbunam.
At 6-foot-6, 251 pounds, Howard ran a 4.51 in the 40-yard dash and has shown that explosive vertical speed throughout his time in the league.
With as many 3WR sets as the Buccaneers utilize and how often Gronkowski is going to be on the field, perhaps Howard would be available to a team needing depth like the Denver Broncos for the right price.
7. Richard Rodgers (Eagles)
As rumors of Aaron Rodgers going to the Denver Broncos sort of die down, how about firing up something with one of Rodgers’ former Packers teammates — tight end Richard Rodgers?
At least this way the Denver Broncos could ensure they would be acquiring at least one former Cal players with the last name Rodgers, right?
Last season for the Philadelphia Eagles, Rodgers caught 24 passes on 31 targets for 345 yards, an impressive average of 14.4 yards per reception. He did this playing a fraction of the snaps behind Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, also adding a pair of touchdowns.
Entering his age 29 season, Rodgers is one of just a few guys on the free agent market under the age of 30 who have reasonably good production in recent years.
According to Pro Football Focus, Rodgers was the highest-graded player on the Eagles’ offense last season.
Looking for depth at the tight end position, a player like Rodgers is just about ideal for what you’re asking for. He’s got tremendous experience, he could start for you in a pinch, and he has a history of producing really well regardless of how many snaps he plays.
8. Jesse James (Lions)
After six NFL seasons, the book on Jesse James is pretty well out at this point.
A fifth-round pick out of Penn State in the 2015 NFL Draft, James is still only going to be 27 this coming season.
On a per-16 game basis, James’ career season averages to this point are roughly 27 receptions for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers are not bad, but when it comes to ‘dart throws’ it’s hard to see the major upside here.
When TJ Hockenson missed some time with injuries in his rookie 2019 season, the free agent acquisition James didn’t exactly pick up the slack statistically. He caught 16 passes for 142 yards and no touchdowns in his first year with the Lions.
Essentially, signing James would be like taking another shot at Nick Vannett, whom the Denver Broncos released earlier this offseason.
Perhaps the greatest value James brings to the table is availability. He has not missed a game since his rookie 2015 season when he played just eight games.
Although it may be uninspiring, James is one option available to the Denver Broncos in free agency under the age of 30 in late May.
9. David Njoku (Browns, trade)
The Cleveland Browns have obviously not been chomping at the bit to trade David Njoku despite obviously shoving the former first-round pick down the depth chart and pecking order at the position.
The Browns had Njoku playing over 400 snaps in 2020 despite the fact that both big-money free agent acquisition Austin Hooper and draft pick Harrison Bryant supplanted him on the depth chart.
Njoku is a fascinating talent with tremendous size and athleticism.
He is listed at 6-foot-4, 246 pounds, has freakishly long 35-inch arms, tremendous explosiveness (37.5-inch vertical jump), speed, and quickness.
The upside for Njoku is still very high, but the front office and coaching regime change has obviously opened the door for the possibility that, for the right value, Cleveland could and perhaps even would move on from the former Miami Hurricanes star.
Njoku, despite being picked in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, is not yet 25 years old. He’s got plenty of upside yet and at just over $6 million this season, the price point is not too high to consider if you think he can be an effective TE2 or at least share that role with Albert Okwuegbunam, and possibly be your TE1 in case of injury to Noah Fant.
5 trades the Denver Broncos should make before 2021 training camp
The Denver Broncos and general manager George Paton have assembled a strong roster, but there is still work to be done. What trades could be considered?
With 112 receptions in his first four NFL season, 11 touchdowns among them, Njoku may need a change of scenery to realize his full potential.