The Denver Broncos are 5-4 on the season and currently in a playoff spot, but they definitely left a few offseason moves out there. Denver may be in a great position to go all-out next offseason, but no team is perfect and there are always moved that are left on the table.
The Broncos probably wanted to be a bit more careful with their cap space given the dead cap hit from the Russell Wilson contract fallout. It's not a huge shock that the team didn't spend a ton in free agency, but there were some moves that the Broncos should have made and didn't for whatever reason.
Do the Denver Broncos absolutely regret not making these signings?
3 offseason moves the Denver Broncos absolutely regret not making
Broncos regret not signing TE Jonnu Smith
The Denver Broncos not doing more at the tight end position continues to be one of their worst moves, or lack thereof, of the 2024 NFL Offseason. Jonnu Smith signed with the Miami Dolphins in free agency on a deal less than a million more than what the Broncos re-signed Adam Trautman for.
Smith has caught 30 passes for 302 yards and one touchdown. He's caught 249 passes across his career and is objectively a better tight end than Trautman. While Smith would not have brought major production, he's averaging nearly 38 yards per game in 2024, and the Denver Broncos definitely could have used that.
Broncos regret not signing WR Darnell Mooney
Darnell Mooney kind of fizzled out in Chicago but has emerged as a very good target for Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons. Mooney had a 1,000-yard season back in 2021 with the Chicago Bears, and he's currently on pace for 1,110 yards in 2024 with the Atlanta Falcons. He's already caught 41 passes and five touchdowns.
The Denver Broncos don't have a WR who has produced like Darnell Mooney, and while Josh Reynolds was a reliable target before getting injured, he's older and not as good as Mooney is. Mooney actually just turned 27 years old, so this could have been a player they kept around for three or four years. The Broncos WR room is proving to be among the worst in football, and it would have been notably better if Darnell Mooney was in the equation.
Broncos regret not signing C Connor Williams
The Broncos may have something with Alex Forsyth, their backup center and former Oregon teammate of Bo Nix, but Connor Williams was out there for months and signed for quite cheap with the Seattle Seahawks right before the 2024 NFL Season. Williams tore his ACL late in the 2023 NFL Season. Had he not, he would have signed a deal close to what Lloyd Cushenberry got in my opinion.
Denver had a shot to sign a top-10 tight end for virtually nothing, and this could have given the team a no-question-top-10 offensive line. The offensive line is currently in a pretty good spot, but if the Broncos new all along they were taking Bo Nix in the 2024 NFL Draft, it's a bit odd that they did not do more at the center position.