One week of NFL Free Agency, and the Denver Broncos still have not signed a single outside free agent. That's got to be some kind of record.
As committed to the bit as they may be, the Broncos still need to fortify the roster, and they are running out of options to do that with in-house players. They will eventually have to look outside of last year's roster for players to upgrade this year's roster, especially at the linebacker position.
Although the Broncos brought back Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton this offseason, they have absolutely no proven depth at the linebacker position right now. The decision to cut veteran Dre Greenlaw was a major disappointment. Not that the team made the wrong call, but Greenlaw was supposed to fill a major void for the team, and he's already gone. But the ideal free agency solution to replace him could still be sitting out there for the Broncos to sign.
Christian Rozeboom could be ideal solution for Broncos to add linebacker depth
The Broncos will ideally fill their linebacker depth through the NFL Draft this year, maybe even with a couple of picks being spent on the position. But in the event that one of Singleton or Strnad would miss any time due to injury, it would be wise of the team to have some veteran depth waiting in the wings.
Christian Rozeboom has started for both the Rams and Panthers in recent years, and while there are reasons he's still available (which we'll get into), his starting experience as well as special teams prowess could be really enticing for the Broncos if the price is right.
Rozeboom was an undrafted free agent back in 2020 out of South Dakota State, and he made his way onto their active roster by the 2021 season. He became a full-time special teams ace by the 2022 season and played so well there that he earned a starting job in 2024 with the Rams.
He parlayed that into a one-year deal this past year to start for the Carolina Panthers, who replaced him in NFL Free Agency with big-money player Devin Lloyd.
While Rozeboom wouldn't sell any jerseys in Denver or really move the needle a whole lot, this is a player who has racked up the majority of his 347 career tackles over the past three seasons, including a career-high seven tackles for loss this past season. The reason why Rozeboom is still sitting in free agency, most likely, is the fact that he had a 12.8 percent missed tackle rate last season, but it was only 8.8 percent the year prior playing behind a better defensive front in Los Angeles.
For the Broncos, Rozeboom would be experienced depth and special teams ability, which they won't be getting as much from Justin Strnad since he's expected to be one of the team's two starters at linebacker. Getting a player like Rozeboom who could start in a pinch and upgrade your depth and special teams is a no-brainer.
He's not going to cost much at this stage of free agency, he's only 29, and he's going to be highly motivated to prove he's worth a bigger contract next offseason. This seems like a good way for the Broncos to replace Dre Greenlaw with a veteran at linebacker who has big-game experience and can do a little bit of everything.