The Denver Broncos may have at least one notable player who is not happy with his current contract, and that might be felt already. All of a sudden, Denver almost had an overload of capable players along the defensive line. We have seen the team fork out contract extension for both Jonathon Cooper and DJ Jones recently, and there is reason to believe that Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto will each get a deal as well.
However, no NFL team is able to pay everyone, and that is just an unfortunate fact. Well, the Broncos have at least one player along the defensive line who seems to be a bit unhappy with his contract status, as his absence was the one of note during the team's OTAs...
John Franklin-Myers is not at Broncos OTAs
Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post reported on Thursday that John Franklin-Myers was not present at Denver Broncos OTAs:
JFM had an insane year for the Denver Broncos and was the missing piece at defensive end for this team. In 2024, he had a career-high seven sacks, 40 tackles, eight tackles for loss, and 18 QB hits, which was the second-highest of his career.
He's set to enter his age-29 season and will be a free agent in the 2026 NFL Offseason. If you ask me, the Broncos probably won't extend a contract offer to Franklin-Myers, as the team did use a third-round pick on DE Sai'vion Jones in the 2025 NFL Draft, so there is reason to believe that Jones could be the replacement at DE when next offseason hits.
I would personally love to see the Broncos add another year on John Franklin-Myers' contract through the 2026 NFL Season to squeeze out the last remaining years of his prime, and while OTAs are voluntary, it is interesting and notable that JFM is not present.