5 terrible things to happen to the Broncos in the 2024 offseason

4. Drew Sanders going down with a major injury

This wasn't a "move" the Broncos made in the 2024 offseason, but rather something terrible that was completely out of their control. Second-year linebacker Drew Sanders went down with an Achilles injury before the 2024 NFL Draft and is set to miss most or all of the upcoming season.

For a player whose future was already in question because nobody knows what position he's going to play, a lost season due to injury is about the last thing that needed to happen. Sanders was drafted in the third round last year after an All-American campaign as an off-ball linebacker at Arkansas. It seemed like the Broncos' vision for him was to play off-ball linebacker in the NFL but we saw him getting reps off the edge late last season.

As interesting as that was, it felt like the Broncos completely flubbed Sanders' projection coming out of college and were scrambling to figure it out. Now, there won't be any on-field work for him until later this year at the absolute earliest. This situation is a disaster considering Sanders was one of the Broncos' highest draft picks from 2022-23.

5. Jim Harbaugh joining the AFC West after all

This is another relatively terrible thing to happen to the Broncos this offseason that wasn't the team's doing at all.

The Los Angeles Chargers went a bit out of character to hire Jim Harbaugh away from his beloved Michigan program, and there's no question about it -- Harbaugh is an outstanding coach. Having him in the AFC West is not a welcomed sight after he seemingly turned the Broncos down last year.

Although we have no idea if the Broncos actually ever made him an offer, the ownership group did visit Harbaugh at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The decision for Harbaugh to come to the pros made a lot more sense in 2024 after he finally won a National Championship as a college head coach. Now he can set his sights on winning a Super Bowl in the NFL, which he nearly did as a head coach in San Francisco more than a decade ago.

Harbaugh builds winning programs wherever he goes, so it feels like that's inevitable with the Chargers. The Broncos can only hope that Sean Payton keeps the team on a positive trajectory in the meantime.