The Denver Broncos have to upgrade at safety this coming offseason. Could they steal a key piece of the Chiefs secondary? It's clear that the team's secondary is missing one more piece. The team appears to have one of the best, if not the best CB room in the NFL with Patrick Surtain II, Ja'Quan McMillian, Riley Moss, and Kris Abrams-Draine.
They also now have a top safety in the league in Brandon Jones, who was outstanding in the 2024 NFL Season and still has youth on his side. The team has to upgrade over PJ Locke III, who was simply not good in 2024.
Could the Denver Broncos sign this key Chiefs player?
Locke is fine in a rotational, backup role, but it's clear that he is not a starting-caliber player in the NFL at this point. Since the Broncos struck gold with Brandon Jones in free agency last year, there is reason to believe that another strong safety free agency market could tempt the Broncos to make a move.
One of the more notable free agent safeties is Justin Reid, who has spent the last three years with the Chiefs, winning two Super Bowls. Reid began his career with the Houston Texans and has started 102 games in his regular season career.
In 2024 with KC, Reid played in 16 regular season games. He had two interceptions, nine passes defended, 87 total tackles, five tackles for loss, and two QB hits.
According to Pro Football Reference, he allowed a 108.4 passer rating in coverage, which isn't ideal, so that could be a sticking point. However, Justin Reid is a rock-solid football player. And the bigger thing at play here is that his loss would make the Chiefs secondary weaker.
He also isn't going to cost top dollar, and I just do not believe the Denver Broncos are going to be open to paying a top safety over $12 million per year on the open market. Players like Jevon Holland or Cam Bynum are free agent safeties who are going to cost a ton.
While safety is a need, they also need to address ILB, DT, WR, TE, and RB in the offseason. Safety is absolutely a need, but is it that big of a need? Maybe not. The Broncos can also address the position in the 2025 NFL Draft, but the petty and smart move would be to steal a player from a division rival.