Broncos Roster: Team can find Mike McGlinchey replacement as soon as 2024

The Denver Broncos shelled out nearly $100 million to sign Mike McGlinchey, who was supposed to be a long-term solution at right tackle, but that has not proven to be the case. Sure, it's been just seven games, but it's clear that McGlinchey has not been good, and you could go as far as to say that he's simply not a good RT in the NFL.

The first five years of his career were spent with the San Francisco 49ers. He was playing in one of the best-coached and most efficient offenses in the NFL during that span. That Kyle Shanahan offense was also a run-first unit, which is what McGlinchey is better at. Well, the 6'8" former Notre Dame product has not done well in Denver.

The Broncos haven't run the ball as much as some of us thought, so McGlinchey has done more pass-blocking than I'm sure he thought he'd do. According to PFF, he's got a 57.1 grade and has committed seven penalties with a whopping five sacks allowed. Both of those latter numbers are within the top three for the most in the NFL.

If McGlinchey was just a second-year player on a rookie deal whom the Broncos had drafted, he'd surely have been benched already, but since he's on such a large deal, it's unlikely that he gets sent to the bench. Well, one thing the Denver Broncos can do is find his replacement as early as 2024. Perhaps Sean Payton, who has always invested heavily in the offensive line, can find a developmental guy in the middle rounds.

Unfortunately for Denver, they cannot cut him until after the 2025 NFL Season, so they are stuck with him for two more full seasons unless the team were to somehow find a trade partner, which seems unlikely. Payton should already admit defeat with this signing and should bring in a tackle prospect who would have absolutely no pressure to start immediately.

This would give Payton and OL coach Zach Streif plenty of time to get said player up and running. At that point, Denver could save a ton of money by moving on from McGlinchey and inserting the young player. It's an ideal scenario, and one that is probably harder than it seems, but the Broncos can kickstart that process in the coming NFL Draft.