3 free agents Broncos should consider signing before Week 3

Denver Broncos free agent option no. 2: Jared Cook, tight end

For months, I’ve been advocating for the Denver Broncos to supplement the wide receiver and tight end positions. Although we didn’t see anything from him in Week 2, I was not surprised to see OJ Howard go off for the Houston Texans in Week 1 with a pair of touchdown catches after being released by the Buffalo Bills.

The Denver Broncos have a bunch of tight ends on the roster, but they are sort of lacking that truly reliable veteran presence at the position. Albert Okwuegbunam doesn’t appear to be taking the necessary steps forward for this team just yet, and Greg Dulcich is still at least a couple of weeks away from getting on the field. Andrew Beck has made some solid plays, and we saw Eric Saubert’s athletic touchdown grab against Houston, but the Broncos need more at the tight end spot.

With the way the NFL has its practice squad rules these days, I’m surprised the Broncos aren’t taking better advantage of being able to have veteran players there when you’re allowed up to six. Not to mention those players get three roster exceptions throughout the season and you can promote them without having to subject them to waivers that many times. In essence, you have the opportunity at no cost to your top 53 salary cap to bring in veteran players on a trial run basis.

Obviously, the players have to agree to it, but we have seen that more and more in the last couple of years since the NFL started implementing this. As a matter of fact, we’re seeing it happen right now with the Buccaneers signing Cole Beasley to the practice squad.

I think the Broncos should give it a shot with veteran Jared Cook. Cook is 35 years old but he’s got 20 touchdowns over the last three seasons combined, and he averaged about 12 yards per reception last season for the Chargers. At the very least, I think Cook would raise the floor of the tight end room and like I said — you don’t even have to bring him onto the active roster right away.

He could be active on gamedays and help out in the passing game while Dulcich continues to recover (he’s eligible to come off of IR after Week 4).