Perhaps better than most teams, the Denver Broncos front office has done a masterful job at rewarding their own players with contract extensions, and at the same time, not allowing key players to hit the open market.
An easy example was what happened mid-season last year. The Broncos got extensions done for all of Wil Lutz, Malcolm Roach, and Luke Wattenberg, keeping all three key players from hitting the open market, where they could have been priced out of the Broncos range.
If Denver hopes to sustain this elite roster for years to come, this type of thing will have to continue to happen, as, if nothing changes, the front office could end up having a nearly impossible free agency mountain to climb.
Projected future Denver Broncos free agents paint a potentially bleak picture
Sure, we're looking way ahead right now, but this has to be something the front office has already taken note of. Some of the projected Broncos free agents for next offseason would present a very difficult situation for the team to sort through:
OG Ben Powers
TE Evan Engram
QB Jarrett Stidham
SAF Brandon Jones
CB Riley Moss
CB Ja'Quan McMillian
WR Marvin Mims Jr.
DE Eyioma Uwazurike
Among other names, these are the top free agents for the team in 2027. Sure, a few of them might not have much of a path to returning. Ben Powers and Evan Engram are not likely to return to Denver, given that both are getting older and given that the team does have multiple young players in position to takeover those jobs.
Jarrett Stidham might also not be too difficult of a player to retain. He's already in his second contract with the Broncos, and it feels like he's content with his role as the QB2. There could be mutual interest there for another short-term deal.
But when you get futher down into this list, things could get tough. All of Brandon Jones, Riley Moss, and Ja'Quan McMillian would hit the open market in 2027, and other key rotational players like Marvin Mims Jr. and Eyioma Uwazurike would be free agents.
No NFL team can pay everyone, and that's true of the Broncos. Given that the secondary could really be pulled apart next offseason, there's reason to believe that at least one of those future free agents could get a deal during the season.
Given that Jones is older than Moss and McMillian, he could be someone the Broncos don't prioritize. However, given how awesome this secondary has been, the Broncos might want to keep the gang together for as long as reasonably possible.
There isn't a perfect solution here, and there's a virtually zero percent chance that all of these players listed above get deals. Denver may angle toward prioritizing the younger players and lean on their 'draft and develop' mindset to fill the voids left by the players who don't get new deals.
In an ideal world, the Broncos find a way to retain all of their key players, but once again, no team can pay everyone. My personal gut reaction here is that guys like McMillian, Mims, and Moss would all be the 'favorites' to land extensions with the team, but we're still too early in the process to say anything definite.
Jahdae Barron is a huge factor here, as well. He's entering his second year in the league, and if the Broncos think he can step into a future starting role at cornerback or safety, that could indicate which players they do or do not retain.
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