The Denver Broncos have to get better at a few positions in free agency this offseason, and there is truly no excuse to not improve at a few spots when the legal tampering period begins on March 9th. Denver figures to be in the market for a few notable upgrades at positions like inside linebacker and running back, but perhaps they are throwing people off their scent and have a different move up their sleeve.
We won't know for sure until Monday, as it's all speculation right now, but the momentum might not be indicating that Denver plans on spending big, even though they're in a position to do so after getting within one game of the Super Bowl in 2025.
Some recent fee agency reporting regarding the Broncos does paint a picture that many fans are surely fearing.
The Denver Broncos might not be making many big swings in free agency after all
Luca Evans in The Denver Post rolled out a free agency preview for the Broncos, and a few blurbs of what the team might do on the open market could truly confirm fans' worst fears. In talking with NFL sources, Evans rolled out a good bit, but these three tidbits really stuck out:
"Don’t be surprised if the Broncos walk away with Dobbins, Harvey and a supplemental piece instead of swinging big here. [Emanuel] Wilson is an interesting name, a 226-pound RB who ran for 496 yards in Green Bay last season.
[Romeo] Doubs is a definite potential fit for the Broncos here; Denver has interest in the former Green Bay receiver, an NFL source told The Post. He’s a big-bodied target who doesn’t demand the ball but has good red-zone production and can play in a variety of alignments.
The Broncos have interest in [Alex] Anzalone and [EJ] Speed, sources said, both potential green-dot options or LB3 pieces who will come in below the top of the market, where NFL sources pinpointed Lloyd likely to come in between $15 and $17 million annually."
Let's start from the top. The running back position is absolutely the most important need for the Broncos this offseason, as no team is going to sustain any sort of offensive success without an efficient rushing attack, and we saw that first hand with the Broncos in 2025 when J.K. Dobbins went down.
However, it seems like NFL sources don't necessarily expect the Broncos to be big spenders here, even though they should be. The ideal target, in my opinion, would be Travis Etienne, but a solution of Dobbins, RJ Harvey, and someone like Emanuel Wilson could apparently be on the table. Wilson was an undrafted free agent signed by the Broncos back in 2023.
In a backup role for the Green Bay Packers in 2024 and 2025, he has amassed 998 rushing yards on a respectable 4.4 yards per carry, but this type of addition might not be impactful enough. If nothing else, I guess there is always the potential that the Broncos could deploy a three-headed monster of Dobbins, Harvey, and Wilson, which should keep all three fresh.
However, given the urgency of the position, it's hard to see the vision with Wilson. Evans also reported that the Broncos have interest in Romeo Doubs, another Green Bay Packer. Doubs is a solid third-ish option in a normal passing offense. In the first four years of his career, he's caught 202 passes for 2,424 yards and 21 touchdowns.
He caught 55 passes for 724 yards and six touchdowns in 2025, which is nearly identical to Troy Franklin's production. Doubs isn't the no.1-caliber target that the Broncos have been missing, so it would be a bit hard to see the vision here.
If nothing else, Doubs is a big-bodied target who could simply be another viable option in the passing game, but this room already has 'viable' - they need game-changing at this point.
Lastly, Evans name-drops Alex Anzalone and EJ Speed as players the Broncos have interest in, either to wear the green dot or be an LB3. Once again, these names feel rather underwhelming, but this is especially true given just how deep the free agency class is at the position.
Anzalone was drafted by Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints back in 2017, and both he and Speed are, at best, floor-raisers, and likely not much better than what the Broncos currently have in someone like Alex Singleton.
When you analyze the various reports from Evans above, it's clear that the Broncos might not want to be big spenders and instead opt for some more modest options, which doesn't really fall in line with where the team is right now.
The Broncos are obviously a Super Bowl contender, and being a contender comes with making contender moves.