5 Broncos players on the hot seat entering OTAs in 2024 season

2. Greg Dulcich, tight end

There's really no question about Greg Dulcich being on the proverbial hot seat. The Broncos brought Adam Trautman back this offseason to raise the floor at the position, but they seem to be taking a pretty big risk with the only other tight ends with experience on the roster being Dulcich and Lucas Krull.

This is a pivotal year for Dulcich, whose situation has been compared by some to that of former Broncos tight end Julius Thomas. Thomas came into the NFL as raw as can be, and missed most of his first two seasons in the league due to injury. He then got paired up with Peyton Manning in 2013 and exploded onto the scene. If Dulcich can stay healthy, he's going to be a major factor in the offense.

That's a big if at this point.

3. Cody Barton, linebacker

Nobody knows, at this point, what the ultimate vision was for injured linebacker Drew Sanders. The hope from the outside looking in was that he could develop into a full-time starter, and the clearest path to doing that seemed to be at off-ball linebacker. Now, Sanders isn't in the picture after suffering a torn Achilles earlier this offseason.

That puts pressure squarely on Cody Barton, who is the most experienced and highest-paid off-ball linebacker on the roster outside of Alex Singleton. Barton was a starter in his final year in Seattle and last season in Washington. Those two fan bases weren't exactly upset to see him go. His situation, in that way, is quite similar to that of Alex Singleton when he was signed after his Eagles tenure.

There's now a lot of pressure on Barton to keep the floor high at off-ball linebacker, though there's always a chance someone like Jonas Griffith could return to the mix after suffering some injuries of his own.