Broncos confirmed to have had previous interest in rival All-Pro running back
Rob Demovsky, a Packers reporter and writer for ESPN, recently confirmed that All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs had quite a few teams interested in him, including the Broncos. I guess this really does not matter anymore since Jacobs is in Green Bay with the Packers, but the interest is significant, in my opinion.
""I didn't want to go to a team where I felt like I was going to be in a rebuilding situation," Jacobs said. "I didn't want to go to a team where I didn't feel like I was going to come in and immediately make an impact and be able to be one of the factors to get over the hump."
- Josh Jacobs, Rob Demovsky
That eliminated several teams that contacted him, including the Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants, who he said were among the 10 to 12 teams interested. In fact, he said he took $3 million to $4 million less than what other teams offered him when he signed the four-year, $48 million deal with the Packers."
The Denver Broncos fielded a pretty boring rushing attack in the 2023 NFL Season; it was nothing special and will clearly need to be better for 2024 and beyond. The team took RB Audric Estime in the 2024 NFL Draft, and is profiles nicely at the NFL level. The Broncos also have Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine, and Jaleel McLaughlin returning.
It's widely expected that one of Perine or Williams is not going to be on the team come Week 1, but the possibility that Josh Jacobs could have signed with the Broncos tells you that Sean Payton and the team's front office was ready to be aggressive this past offseason.
If Jacobs would have signed with Denver, that could have truly spelled the end for both Perine and Williams on the team. Through five seasons in the NFL, Jacobs has rushed for 5,545 yards and 46 touchdowns. He's got nearly 7,000 scrimmage yards through his first five seasons and always seemed to torture the Broncos during his time with the Raiders.
It's good that he's now in a completely different conference, but the Broncos apparently had interest in the player, which is significant news.