5 free agents Denver Broncos were wise to avoid

Two wide receivers, two quarterbacks and a defensive player who spurned the Broncos for a divisional rival make the list.

Dec 31, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew II (10).
Dec 31, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew II (10). / Bob Scheer-USA TODAY Sports
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The bulk of the free-agent signing period is complete and though teams will still bring in players sporadically between now and the start of the 2024 season, we can assess the major moves made by each team now.

For the Denver Broncos, it's been a quiet free-agent signing period but the team has been forced into that corner because of the circumstances stemming from the dead cap hit of the Russell Wilson contract. The Broncos did clear enough cap space to be able to sign some players this offseason but have instead decided to take a more responsible approach and use that money to absord that dead cap hit.

In the process of this, the Broncos missed out on many of the big names on the market this offseason but as time will tell, they were wise to avoid many of them, including the five on this list.

5 free agents Denver Broncos were wise to avoid

Mitch Trubisky, Denver Broncos
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky (10) draws back to pass Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, against the Indianapolis Colts. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY

Mitch Trubisky, QB

During this offseason, the Broncos were connected to just about every available quarterback out there (and there are some they are still connected to). In the case of nearly all of them, it make little to no sense for the Broncos to get rid of Russell Wilson only to bring in a different, marginal veteran quarterback.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who started three different quarterbacks last season and still made the playoffs, turned over their entire quarterback room this offseason. The first domino to fall was Mitch Trubisky when they released him in February.

The Buffalo Bills, the team Trubisky played with before the Steelers, signed Trubisky to a new deal before the free-agent period even started to compete to be Josh Allen's main backup.

Trubisky is a guy who can make a spot start if a team is in a really tough predicament, but he's best suited to be carrying a clipboard on the sideline and the Broncos don't need another one of those.