The Denver Broncos have made a ton of big moves in the 2022 offseason, but there’s one free agent pickup that seems to go consistently overlooked.
The Denver Broncos have made so many major moves in the 2022 offseason, it’s easy for some of the more “minor” ones to get overlooked.
General manager George Paton didn’t make any major adjustments to the secondary this offseason, but he did do some tinkering.
The Broncos brought Kareem Jackson back to start alongside Justin Simmons at the safety position.
They used a handful of draft picks on defensive backs on day three:
- Damarri Mathis, CB (round 4)
- Delarrin Turner-Yell, S (round 5)
- Faion Hicks, CB (round 7)
They also signed a couple of minicamp tryout players earlier in the offseason in Bless Austin and Donnie Lewis Jr.
One player that hasn’t been talked about, though, is free agent acquisition JR Reed at the safety position.
JR Reed joins a crowded Denver Broncos secondary
JR Reed joins the Denver Broncos’ defensive backfield after a stint with the Los Angeles Rams from 2020-21 and the New York Giants for eight games last season.
Reed’s contributions for both the Rams and Giants were relatively limited.
He had 13 tackles for the Giants last year and five tackles for the Rams in 2020 (including playoffs).
Reed’s time in Los Angeles gives him some familiarity with both defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as well as special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes.
If he’s going to crack the Denver Broncos’ roster, it will likely start with being an ace on special teams but he’s going to have some stiff competition.
As previously mentioned, the Denver Broncos did some tinkering to the defensive backfield this offseason but they were already pretty strong at safety. Not including Reed, here are some of the players the Broncos currently have on the roster at safety:
- Justin Simmons
- Kareem Jackson
- Caden Sterns
- Jamar Johnson
- Delarrin Turner-Yell
- PJ Locke
Reed is going to have to really show out in training camp and preseason games in order to make the final Denver Broncos’ roster.
Still, you can’t help but think he’s a bit of an underrated addition to this team given his experience with Evero in Los Angeles as well as his potential to be a significant contributor on special teams.
Reed had a really good preseason in 2021 when he was given some extended snaps and obviously the Denver Broncos’ front office and coaching staff both agreed that he could be an asset on this team.
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We’ll see what the offseason brings in terms of Reed being able to ultimately make the roster, but the fact that the team brought him in in the first place speaks volumes to how highly they think of him at one of the roster’s more loaded position groups.