The Denver Broncos biggest whiff thus far in the Sean Payton era appears to be signing right tackle Mike McGlinchey to a massive contract worth nearly $90 million. This has been a horrid signing thus far, but given that the other starters along the Broncos' OL have been very good, the performance of McGlinchey hasn't been totally evident.
In fact, he was playing a lot better over the team's five-game win streak, but Will Anderson Jr of the Houston Texans ate his lunch during Week 13. The Broncos had a revolving door at right tackle for years, but Sean Payton hoped to install a thick, durable door when he signed Mike McGlinchey last offseason.
There is no mystery with the former San Francisco 49er and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He's bad in pass protection, but very good in run blocking. He also does tend to get called for a ton of penalties, and while he is a fine player overall, the contract he signed is a serious overvalue of the player. Over The Cap has a tab on their website called "Valuation" where they assign a financial value to a player based on their performance.
Well, their valuation of Mike McGlinchey comes in at $8 million per season, which is less than half than the $17.5 million per year on his current deal. According to PFF, McGlinchey has been responsible for eight penalties and five sacks allowed in 2023. You'd expect those numbers from a rookie, not a veteran like McGlinchey.
Honestly, the Broncos should have just re-signed Cameron Fleming as they did and stuck him as the starting RT, perhaps pairing Fleming with a draft pick to develop. Or, if you watched Thursday Night Football in Week 14, you'll have noticed New England Patriots' OL Mike Onwenu, one of the most underrated players in football.
Onwenu is in his fourth season and has played at a Pro Bowl-caliber level as a guard AND as a tackle, something that is just unheard of today. Onwenu is set to hit the open market this coming offseason, and I think if Payton was going to redo his stance with his right tackle, he would have loved to pursue Onwenu. Mike McGlinchey has been a total dud of a signing and the Broncos are not nearly getting the value out of him based on his contract.