The offseason programs for all 32 NFL teams are getting underway, and somewhat shockingly (at least in some cases), a handful of former Denver Broncos players remain unemployed and still looking for teams for the 2024 season.
There could be a variety of reasons for this. Perhaps part of it has to do with supply and demand. It could be that the price tag on the player is too high. It could be, at this stage, that teams are waiting until veteran contracts are non-guaranteed after June 1.
Whatever the case, there are some notable former Broncos players still sitting out there in free agency. Let's take a look at a handful of those names.
1. Justin Simmons, safety
Out of all available free agents in the NFL right now, Justin Simmons is perhaps the most shocking overall. When the Broncos cut Simmons earlier this offseason, I thought it would merely be a matter of moments before we found out what his new team would be. If anything, maybe it would have been a couple of days to sort through the best offers.
Unfortunately, at this point, there's been no traction on anything. We've barely even heard any rumors. We haven't heard of Simmons taking visits to other teams, and we haven't heard of him being close to signing any deal with any team.
That could all change rather quickly, but near the end of May, Simmons remains a free agent. Some team is going to be getting a great leader and ballhawk for their defensive backfield as no NFL player has more interceptions than Simmons (30) since 2016.
2. Dalton Risner, offensive guard
NFL teams are constantly on the hunt for offensive line help. It's hard to find good players for your offensive line these days, making Dalton Risner's availability deep into the month of May all the more confusing.
Risner was supposed to command a contract around $8-10 million per season as of last year, but he remained a free agent into the 2023 regular season before eventually signing with the Minnesota Vikings. There were theories and rumors as to why Risner was unsigned despite some high free agent expectations, including the fact that he shoved Broncos backup QB Brett Rypien on a fateful Christmas blowout in Los Angeles.
Whatever the case, Risner ended up playing extremely well for the Vikings last year, especially in pass protection. His arrival actually allowed the Vikings to trade Ezra Cleveland and permanently slot Risner in at the left guard position.
This is a starting left guard, a former second-round pick, and a Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee who is just sitting out there in the month of May. I won't pretend to understand it, especially after the year Risner just had in Minnesota. Why have the Vikings not re-signed him at this point?
3. Mike Purcell, defensive line
Mike Purcell was a really cool story for the Denver Broncos a couple of years ago, coming up from a defunct professional league where he put some decent stuff on tape, earning a spot on the Broncos' 90-man roster.
At that point, Purcell had a connection to former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, and was sort of that underdog story and a player who had been out of the NFL for a couple of years. He went three calendar years between NFL regular season games played, and he broke out for the Broncos in 2019 as a run-stuffing nose tackle. He racked up 48 total tackles and a whopping eight tackles for loss for the Broncos that year.
Injuries would limit him the next couple of seasons in Denver after he signed a contract extension with the team, but we've seen some improvement from Purcell as a pass rusher in recent years. He's got nine QB hits over the last two seasons, the most of any two-year stretch in his NFL career by far.
Although Purcell is 33 this year, he should still have some value as a starting nose tackle and someone who could be effective for 300-400 total snaps.
Heck, maybe the Highlands Ranch native will simply return to the Broncos at some point, although they gave his jersey number up...