For the first time in what feels like forever, the Denver Broncos have a talented enough roster that they might have an overabundance of players at certain positions. The Broncos have built something very special very quickly under head coach Sean Payton, and the "sleeping giant" George Paton inherited back in 2021 finally woke up last season.
The Broncos have a chance to get even better in the 2025 NFL Draft but they also have to keep one eye on the longer-term future of players currently on the roster with this draft class. As a result, could we see some bigger-name players getting traded before or during the draft itself?
We've seen the Broncos make player trades in each of the last two draft classes, but in both cases, they were acquiring players, not sending them away. With contract situations and future vision for players up in the air during the draft, it's going to be fascinating to see if anybody gets dangled out there. Who are the top three names to keep tabs on?
3 Broncos players who could be traded before (or during) the 2025 NFL Draft
1. John Franklin-Myers, defensive line
Ultimately, the Broncos would probably vastly prefer to keep John Franklin-Myers around. They acquired him in a trade with the New York Jets last year during the NFL Draft, and that move turned out to be one of the biggest steals for any team last offseason.
Franklin-Myers continued to play at his consistently high level, which we've seen all throughout his career. But with the simultaneous emergence of Zach Allen and both of those guys getting into their late-20s, will Denver look to extend both?
This is considered one of the deepest draft classes in some time on the defensive line, so there has been a lot of talk about the Broncos using a premium draft pick on a future potential starter on the defensive line. If they draft one now, could Franklin-Myers be on the move to the highest bidder in a trade?
That might be a worst-case scenario with wherever contract talks are at, but you can't take it off the table just yet.
2. PJ Locke, safety
The Denver Broncos are relatively deep at the safety position, but I'm not going to call this group "loaded". Here are the current players under contract:
- Brandon Jones
- Talanoa Hufanga
- PJ Locke
- JL Skinner
- Devon Key
- Keidron Smith
- Sam Franklin
- Delarrin Turner-Yell
There are simply more players on the roster right now than will make the 53-man roster in 2025, and the Broncos have decisions to make. Are they going to allow JL Skinner to take on an expanded role in the defense this year? Will Delarrin Turner-Yell be a factor coming back from injury?
The recent signing of Sam Franklin has put some new intrigue on this position group because PJ Locke would be a rather expensive backup/special teams player in the current alignment. The Broncos currently have over $5 million committed to this year's cap for PJ Locke and there are a lot of folks elsewhere in the league that might be willing to trade for him.
Vic Fangio and Christian Parker are in Philadelphia. Ejiro Evero is in Carolina. Darren Mougey and Chris Banjo are with the Jets. Locke could have suitors and we could see a late-round return for Denver since he has one year left on his deal and played a lot of snaps last year.
3. Jaleel McLaughlin, running back
Even though Jaleel McLaughlin is seemingly one of Sean Payton's "guys", I want to throw this one out there because there are a variety of reasons it could make sense.
McLaughlin is not considered to be a "joker" by the way the offseason has been approached. He's not a true RB1 due to his overall size.
McLaughlin has been an intriguing change of pace back who has had flashes in his time in Denver, but the Broncos are still in the market for a true RB1 to take the lion's share of carries/touches going forward. McLaughlin is entering year three in the NFL and it's not ridiculous to think that all of Audric Estimé, Tyler Badie, and even Blake Watson could bring more to the table going forward. Plus, the Broncos are going to be drafting a back high.
It might not make as much sense for McLaughlin to be on the roster in the near future, so a trade shouldn't be off the table.