4 baffling offseason decisions the Denver Broncos made in 2024
The Denver Broncos offseason was strong overall, but far from perfect, as they made these four baffling decisions thus far. Listen, no NFL team is going to have a perfect offseason, as that is impossible. However, you cannot fault the Broncos for what they did in 2024 - they've embraced a bit of a re-tooling and brought in a rookie QB.
If nothing else, they are clearly in a spot where long-term success is possible, and that was not the case over the last half-decade or so. Nonetheless, Denver still made some baffling decisions, and these four are the most head-scratching.
4 baffling offseason decisions the Denver Broncos made in 2024
Signing S Brandon Jones
Brandon Jones is not a bad player by any means, but the safety market was deep this offseason, and I felt like the Broncos sprung on signing him way too quickly. The team effectively signed Jones to replace Justin Simmons, who was cut and is still a free agent, shockingly.
Jones somehow made out extremely well, as he is currently the sixth highest-paid safety in the 2024 free agent class. Meanwhile, better safeties like Kamren Curl, Jordan Whitehead, and Jeremy Chinn all got less money. The Broncos could have signed two of those players for only a bit more than they have Jones and would have been in a much better spot on the backend.
Oh well, it's not my money, but this move was a bit puzzling to me.
Not signing free agent TE Gerald Everett
What were the Denver Broncos thinking not doing more at tight end this offseason? The team seems poised to roll into the 2024 NFL Season with Adam Trautman, Greg Dulcich, and Lucas Krull at the position, which is a scary bad unit. Now yes, one of Dulcich or Krull could hit their stride in 2024, but it might not be likely.
Dulcich did play quite well during his 10-game rookie season, but he was limited to just two games in 2023. Krull is an extremely developmental player, and Trautman is simply just a guy who knows the system. The one move they should have made for this unit was signing TE Gerald Everett, a consistent and modest producer at the position.
He signed a two-year deal for $12 million with the Chicago Bears, who already have stud TE Cole Kmet. The Bears genuinely did not need Everett, but their GM, Ryan Poles, wanted to load up for his rookie QB. The Broncos could have added Everett to the mix to at least raise the floor of the TE room and to give the offense another reliable play-maker.