Denver Broncos: 5 of the best moves made this offseason

5. Doubling up on veteran right tackles

The Denver Broncos took a risk by not drafting a single offensive tackle among their 10 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The team expected Ja’Wuan James back for the 2021 season after opting out in 2020 and missing most of the 2019 season due to injury. The reason he was expected back was purely financial, but when James suffered a season-ending Achilles injury working out away from the team facility, it may have been a blessing in disguise for both parties (although, not so much for James who had to forfeit a bunch of cash).

James was able to get another fresh start in another NFL city in Baltimore and the Broncos were able to free up a good chunk of cap space when James’ off-site injury voided guarantees in his contract.

Given the timing of the injury, the Denver Broncos had a rather robust crop of free agents to choose from which is pretty rare considering the injury happened after the NFL Draft.

After hosting some veterans on visits, the Broncos signed not only one but two players to compete for the starting job and give the team some much-needed depth at the position in 2021.

They signed former Chicago Bears starting right tackle Bobby Massie and former New York Giants starter Cameron Fleming to one-year deals which, all told, count less than $4 million on the 2021 salary cap.

Not bad.

Those contracts help the Denver Broncos when it comes to having immediate available space but nothing was sacrificed for the future by bringing those two players in, either.

Along with a developing player like Calvin Anderson, someone the team likes quite a bit, the Broncos now have three options at the right tackle position and some versatility from those guys to play additional backup spots if they don’t win the starting job.