The Denver Broncos had a successful free agency period, but will they wish they had signed these three? We'll find out if the Broncos made the correct free agency moves when the 2025 NFL Season begins.
George Paton and Sean Payton definitely have a solid record together in the free agency market, so there is reason to believe that they again made the right moves, but you simply never know until they take the field.
Let's look at three former free agents the Denver Broncos may have missed out on.
Did the Broncos miss on these free agents?
Cooper Kupp, WR
It did genuinely seem like the Denver Broncos were close to signing Cooper Kupp, but he went home to the Seattle Seahawks. Kupp would have given Denver exactly what they were missing at wide receiver, and you have to wonder if third-round rookie Pat Bryant will be the missing link to this room.
Furthermore, signing Kupp would have given the Broncos a bit of insurance in case some other players like Marvin Mims Jr, Devaughn Vele, and Troy Franklin don't take a step forward in 2025. Let's hope that the Broncos don't regret not signing Cooper Kupp.
Najee Harris, RB
With four 1,000-yard seasons in his first four years in the NFL, Najee Harris is the epitome of consistency at RB in the NFL. However, he's not the most explosive player and isn't going to have a higher ceiling than that we has done thus far.
He signed a cheap one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, but the Broncos may have missed on this one. Given how deep the RB class was in the 2025 NFL Draft, Denver should have signed Harris to raise the floor of their room and to give the offense another viable weapon.
Consider this: the Los Angeles Chargers signed Najee Harris and still took RB Omarion Hampton in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, so they made a huge investment into their RB room. Why couldn't Denver do the same?
Willie Gay Jr, ILB
A former second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs, Willie Gay Jr is definitely a bit of a Swiss Army Knife at the ILB spot. Across his 72-game regular season career, he has amassed four interceptions, 22 passes defended, three forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, seven sacks, 261 total tackles 19 tackles for loss, and 10 QB hits.
He signed with the Miami Dolphins in free agency and would have brought a ton of value to the Broncos ILB room. Both Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw are coming off of injuries, so Gay's potential presence would have raised the floor of the weakest position group on defense.