The Denver Broncos should further bolster their talent on offense and dive back into the running back market with strong aggression. Well, all that hype about Dalvin Cook and the New York Jets has turned into nothing thus far.
He was recently visiting with the team and even attended one of their practice. However, he recently left the area, and perhaps the biggest teller of all is that he left without a deal, according to Jeremy Fowler if ESPN.
After spending Sunday with the #Jets, Dalvin Cook has headed back to South Florida. By all accounts, his meeting with New York went well. He remains a free agent.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) July 31, 2023
There have also been some other RBs getting some attention recently. Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts recently requested a trade. Ezekiel Elliott recently visited with the New England Patriots, and a nice pass-catching RB, which is a staple in Sean Payton's offenses, Leonard Fournette, is also unsigned.
I mean, my goodness, there are potentially several good starters at running back that are currently available. I wouldn't count Josh Jacobs, as I don't think in any instance he'd be traded to the Denver Broncos, but he is someone else to potentially keep an eye on. Payton has typically used two RBs heavily in his prior offenses, and I don't think that will change in 2023.
We'll likely see the Denver Broncos be a run-first team, and with Javonte Williams' return from a torn ACL and Samaje Perine as the top two backs, I am not sure how reliable that tandem will be in 2023. Perine has never had much of a workload in the NFL besides third-down work, and Williams' knee injury could still nag at him into the season.
There is plenty of reason for the Broncos to add to their RB stable right now. They have the cap space to make a move like this, and with Tim Patrick and KJ Hamler both out of the picture, Denver could have another reason to add to their stable of skill players on offense. Even with Patrick and Hamler out, I don't think the WR is as urgent of a position to add to as RB is.
What if Javonte Williams tweaks his knee and needs to miss a month? Are we really going to rely on Samaje Perine to take the bulk of the carries? It's time for the Broncos to add to RB.