When a roster is as good as what the Denver Broncos have on paper, it's hard for non-starters to emerge as starters. Every roster needs depth, and, fortunately, Denver has a ton of that as well. There might not be a single thing that this team won't be able to do when 2026 rolls around.
This offseason, the Broncos brought back many of their own free agents, while also swinging a major trade for Jaylen Waddle. They followed that up with a strong 2026 NFL Draft class in terms of value. Given the overall limited resources the team had, it's quite an impressive job that the roster got better.
A move that flew under the radar was back in April, when head coach Sean Payton said that Jonah Elliss would be seeing snaps at inside linebacker, and when that news broke, it truly sounded like Elliss was going to move there full-time. However, that does not appear to be the case anymore.
Denver Broncos LB Jonah Elliss will remain at outside linebacker and not kick inside
This is a total 180 from earlier in the offseason, when Payton said that Elliss would be getting some snaps there:
Jonah Elliss is staying at outside linebacker. May flex inside but Payton said “he’s doing too good outside.”
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) June 4, 2026
So, the third-year Elliss will be primarily remaining at ouside linebacker. He has two older brothers in the league right now, Christian and Kaden, who are both inside linebackers, so the family ties to the position would have made the move make a ton of sense.
But with Elliss seemingly sticking on the outside, there is, essentially, another 'spot' open at the position. Despite the Broncos bringing in two notable rookies at the position in Red Murdock and Taurean York, those two were a seventh-round pick and an undrafted free agent.
It's reasonable to be optimistic with those new additions, but they were picked where they were for a reason. The more realistic view could be that both could have quite the uphill battle to make the final roster, as the odds that seventh-round picks and undrafted free agents even make an NFL roster is rather low.
Even with Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton, the two starters, getting multi-year deals this offseason, could this move end up giving the Broncos another chance to make a big-time move? If Elliss had stuck at inside linebacker, the roster shuffling to field the best room may have been difficult.
But now that the third-year player is sticking at EDGE, the Broncos might have cleared a path for a new addition. At the moment, the 'big fish' at inside linebacker would be Jordyn Brooks of the Miami Dolphins.
He's not been given a new contract extension at the moment, and seeing as the Broncos have already done business with the Dolphins, there is a non-zero chance that another deal could happen. It's not impossible, though, for this room to feature Strnad, Singleton, Murdock, and York, but if the Broncos don't see enough from the two rookies, why couldn't another move happen?
The Broncos are in an all-in window and did just see a team in Los Angeles make two major trades this offseason. I would personally have a hard time believing that, after last year, the front office is going to be satisfied with a seventh-round pick and an undrafted free agent being the primary roster additions at the weakest spot on the roster.
This team did sign Dre Greenlaw to a three-year deal last offseason, so they clearly felt like the room needed a boost. Going from that type of impact signing to two rookies doesn't really match up.
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