The Denver Broncos don't get to where they are now without a ton of high-end roster moves, and we have seen this team get aggressive in free agency in recent years, clearly not being afraid to spend a ton of money.
While drafting and developing is the way to go, some positions can simply be purchased, and we have seen that with Denver. In today's NFL, drafting and developing is more important on the offensive side of the ball, but good teams have a mixture of everything on both sides, with a clear emphasis on drafting the most important positions, like quarterback.
The Broncos made a $39 million defensive investment last year, and one year later, it's turned into a total steal, and it's also turned into one of the better moves this team has made in the Sean Payton era.
Denver Broncos Talanoa Hufanga signing looks awesome as 2026 approaches
Talanoa Hufanga is an awesome player, and while he oddly dropped a ton of interceptions last year, he also had one of the best seasons of his NFL career. Last offseason, Hufanga signed a three-year deal worth $39 million, with $20 million guaranteed. His contract ranks just 15th at the position on a per-year basis, but in 2025, Hufanga was a second-team All-Pro.
In his final two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Hufanga played in a combined 17 regular season games, totaling three passes defended, three interceptions, 90 total tackles, three tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits.
In 2025 for the Broncos, Hufanga started all 17 games and played 96 percent of the defensive snaps, finishing with 11 passes defended, two sacks, 106 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits.
Among all safeties, Hufanga ranked third in tackles, and third in passes defended. While Hufanga isn't the best in coverage, he excels near the line of scrimmage, is very physical for a safety, and absolutely falls into that 'playmaker' category.
Now in the second year of this three-year deal, Hufanga's production was right on par with some of the best safeties in the NFL. This was an outstanding free agency signing by the Broncos front office, and there's no reason to believe why this can't continue in 2026.
Hufanga is only set to play in his age-27 season, and being able to stay on the field for all 17 games after two years of struggling to do that does bode well for his chances in 2026. We could soon get to a point in 2026 where the Broncos add another year onto his deal, to be honest.
He still has some youth on his side and fits right into this aggressive, attacking Vance Joseph defense. What's nice is that safety is absolutely a position where NFL teams don't necessarily have to prioritize investing NFL Draft capital into.
The Broncos sport a top-5, at worst, safety duo with Hufanga and Brandon Jones, who is also awesome, and both were free agent signings, with Jones coming aboard back in 2024.
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