The Denver Broncos got many of their key free agents re-signed during the bye week. All of Malcolm Roach, Wil Lutz, and Luke Wattenberg got extensions. However, the work might not yet be done in retaining some of the in-house players.
Key free agents like Justin Strnad, Alex Singleton, John Franklin-Myers, and JK Dobbins may or may not return to the team. The urgency of re-signing some of these players varies as well. GM George Paton's job also only gets harder, as the Broncos have pressing needs at wide receiver, tight end, and running back, and being able to keep an elite roster elite is a tough task year over year.
Perhaps the most notable free agent on Denver is John Franklin-Myers. JFM has wrapped up his second year with the team and has turned into a very good, but underrated player along the defensive line. Denver did pay just about everyone else along the defensive line, so he could be the odd man out, but an underrated defender recently made his stances very clear about Franklin-Myers.
Malcolm Roach just sent an emphatic message to the Denver Broncos front office about John Franklin-Myers
Malcolm Roach, one of the more vocal, beloved members of the Denver Broncos, just sent an emphatic message to the front office about John Franklin-Myers, the most notable free agent on the team for 2026:
Malcolm Roach wants John Franklin-Myers back.
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) January 26, 2026
Said he’s been saying this all year:
“Just give JFM his money”
John Franklin-Myers played in 33 of 34 regular season games for Denver over the past two seasons. He racked up 14.5 sacks, 65 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 33 QB hits. He's a high-floor player who has really maintained this level of play over the past five seasons before arriving in Denver.
There is an element of 'you know what you're getting' with John Franklin-Myers. However, JFM played in 46% of the snaps in 2024 and 49% in 2025, so he doesn't even see the field half the time. There is absolutely an element of play time here. If Franklin-Myers ends up costing $10 million per year, would the Broncos sign up for that knowing he barely plays half of the defensive snaps?
This situation doesn't appear to be as black and white as paying him. The team took Sai'vion Jones in the 2025 NFL Draft as a potential long-term replacement, and with Denver needing to invest more financial resources onto the offensive side of the ball, JFM being the odd man out as likely been set in stone for a while now.
However, he appears to be a fan favorite and a teammate favorite as well.