The Denver Broncos have to add to their offense in free agency. They should spring on signing this former AFC West running back. With the deep RB class in the 2025 NFL Draft, the free agency market at the position was never going to be all that special. Last offseason was when players like Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, and Saquon Barkley cashed in.
The top free agent running back this offseason was Najee Harris, who actually signed with the Los Angeles Chargers on a one-year deal. The deal can be worth up to $9,250,000, but the contract contains just $5,250,000 in guaranteed money.
For a running back that has hit the 1,000-yard mark in every season of his career and has never missed a start, this is actually a shockingly low number. Harris wasn't even able to land a multi-year deal on the open market, and it really seemed like he had to settle here. With Harris signing with LA, this does pave the way for the Denver Broncos to sign their former starting RB for dirt-cheap.
JK Dobbins would be a pretty cool fit for the Denver Broncos for a year or two. Dobbins just turned 26 years old and has been in the NFL since 2020.
JK Dobbins makes a lot of sense for the Denver Broncos
However, Dobbins has had some insane bad injury luck. He played 0 games in 2021, eight in 2022, and one in 2023. However, in 2024, he managed to suit up for 13 games, rushing for 905 yards and nine touchdowns for the Chargers.
Across 37 career games, Dobbins has rushed for 2,252 yards and has averaged 5.2 yards per attempt. Per a 17-game season, Dobbins is actually averaging 1,035 yards and 10 touchdowns. I understand that 'when he's on the field' is a big point here, but we have seen this Broncos training staff separate themselves as one of the best in the NFL.
The Broncos have been among the least-injured teams in the NFL over the last two seasons. Furthermore, with how cheap Najee Harris signed with the Los Angeles Chargers for, that likely means JK Dobbins is going to be even cheaper.
This would be a great low-risk, high-reward signing for the Broncos - if they could get Dobbins on the field for 15-ish games in 2025, we could be looking at a strong run game. And even in the event that the Broncos would sign JK Dobbins, they could still take to the 2025 NFL Draft to find some production there.
I struggle to see a downside with making this potential signing. It would at the very least raise the floor of the team's RB room while still giving them RB1 upside.