The Denver Broncos sport one of the best rosters in the NFL, and with that come some very tough roster decisions that the team will have to begin working through. With the preseason starting up soon, this is the time of the offseason when those fringe players can really make their case.
And even some veterans might be hanging on by a thread, so they'll also need to show out in the preseason to save their roster spot. While the Broncos do not have a ton of wiggle room, there is a unit that could see a bit of a tight roster squeeze.
With preseason beginning for the team on August 14th, that roster squeeze could end up being quite hard to solve.
The Denver Broncos have a ton of tight ends, but not a ton of spots
The Broncos have a ton of tight ends, but that isn't a bad thing by any means, as the team has suffered at this position for years now. Evan Engram, who signed last offseason, did bring some modest producton to the room, but it seems like it wasn't quite as much as many fans thought.
He also in the final year of his deal and is not likely to return next year given how many other key free agents the Broncos. The team re-signed Adam Trautman on a three-year deal and also used a pair of day three picks in the 2026 NFL Draft on Justin Joly and Dallen Bentley.
With the Broncos having released their first unofficial depth chart recently, the tight end room looks like this:
-Evan Engram
-Adam Trautman
-Nate Adkins
-Lucas Krull
-Caleb Lohner
-Justin Joly*
-Dallen Bentley*
Obviously, it's been a 'thing' in the Sean Payton era to list rookies with an asterisk at the bottom of the depth chart, so I'd not put too much into Joly and Bentley being at the bottom for that reason. Unsurprisingly, Engram and Trautman are at the top of the depth chart, as both of those players are locks to make the roster unless something notable happens.
Both are under semi-significant contracts and simply aren't going anywhere right now. This team also typically keeps four tight ends on the roster, so there are going to be some tough decisions. Each year, the Payton-era Broncos have rostered four tight ends on the initial group.
And to be honest, anything more would be overkill. With Engram and Trautman locks for the roster, that does leave just two spots up for grabs. The most likely scenario for many might be if the team simply keeps the two rookies in Joly and Bentley, but that would also likely leave someone like Adkins on the outside.
Adkins is someone who offers blocking upside and has been with the team since 2023. Krull has also been in the picture since 2023, and Lohner was a seventh-round draft pick last year and is obviously a former basketball player, so he brings that athletic upside.
With that said, all three players have recently dealt with or are currently dealing with injury, so the availability has not always been there. That could clear the way for the two rookies to slide into the last two spots, but the Broncos have kept around Adkins and Krull since 2023 for a reason.
There are simply a ton of bodies in this room, and with preseason beginning on the 14th, those fringe players really have one final chance to make some noise. We might end up seeing both Joly and Bentley slide into those roster spots due to their likely higher ceiling that Adkins, Krull, and Lohner, but they were both day three picks for a reason.
I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that there is an endless combination of tight ends that could make the roster, but far from an endless amount of spots available.
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