Denver Broncos: 5 moves in 2021 the team may live to regret

5. Not signing Justin Houston

The Denver Broncos’ pass rush group is tremendous, don’t get me wrong.

Von Miller is back, Bradley Chubb is back, and both Jonathon Cooper and Andre Mintze showed nicely in training camp and preseason.

But listen.

Von Miller is coming off of a season-ending injury.

Bradley Chubb is coming off of two straight season-ending injuries (knee and ankle) and was recently detained for failing to appear in court over traffic violations.

While I love Malik Reed as much as the next guy, if you’re planning on making the playoffs in 2021, you need a stash of pass rushers who can get the job done.

Seeing Justin Houston sign with the Baltimore Ravens for one year, $2.075 million was a gut punch for this armchair general manager. Houston at that price is an insane value as he has still managed at least 25 QB pressures each of the last three seasons.

In a diminished role, Houston has maintained his effectiveness on a per snap basis and he would have been an intriguing weapon off the edge, even if the Denver Broncos decided to keep six edge guys or something like that.

Again, who wouldn’t swap Houston for Cam Fleming right now?

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I think some of these moves may be splitting hairs, but others might come back to bite the Denver Broncos with jobs on the line in 2021 and the playoffs a virtual must.