The Denver Broncos roster has gotten worse this offseason, and that isn't an exaggeration. Guys like John Franklin-Myers and Dre Greenlaw are out the door, and the team has oddly retained below-average players like Alex Singleton and Adam Trautman for some reason.
All in all, you would think that this front office would have been a bit more aggressive considering how slim of margins the team was winning with in 2025. It's clear that while the Broncos are a great team, more help is still needed and for whatever reason, has not come yet.
The most egregious mistakes have probably been extending Singleton and cutting Greenlaw, which feels like a massive step in the wrong direction. On paper, the Broncos have a bottom-5 linebacker room in the NFL, and a key free agent linebacker who would have fit like a glove and who has connections to Sean Payton is now off the board.
The Denver Broncos continue to get caught sleeping at the wheel
Veteran free agent linebacker is heading to the team that drafted him, and he'll soon sign a three-year deal worth $33 million with the New Orleans Saints:
The #Saints are adding a lynchpin on defense, signing former #Falcons LB Kaden Elliss, sources say.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2026
He gets a 3-year, $33M deal with $23M guaranteed in a deal done by agents Malki Kawa and Ethan Lock of @FirstRoundMgmt. Max value is nearly $39M. pic.twitter.com/pz1sWTmSih
Elliss is the older brother of Broncos edge rusher Jonah Elliss, so there is a clear connection just with that. However, Payton and the Saints drafted the older Elliss back in the 2019 NFL Draft, so the other connection made a potential fit with the Broncos extremely easy to see.
Not only that, but Elliss is actually a really good player. He turns 31 years old this summer but has played in all 17 games in each of the last four seasons, not missing a start since 2022.
Since 2022, Elliss has racked up 14 passes defended, two interceptions, 19.5 sacks, 458 total tackles, 36 tackles for loss, and 42 quarterback hits. He is flat-out excellent at getting to the passer from the linebacker position, and he would have also been very capable of being the 'green dot' on defense for the Broncos.
This again feels like Payton's old team signing an obvious Broncos free agency target, as the Saints also nabbed Travis Etienne on Monday. Overall, things truly are getting worse for the Broncos. Sure, there are still a ton of players still left on the market, and the Broncos can absolutely improve, but the players who could have helped Denver improve the most are off the board.
It's an unfortunate reminder of how shy this front office can be sometimes, as they, almost to a fault, lean too much on 'their guys.' Until the Broncos get a bit aggressive here and actually invest into some legitimate outside talent, they'll continue to fall short.