Two days before he kicked off a contract year against the Tennessee Titans, John Franklin-Myers made clear that he expected to hit free agency after the 2025 season — and that he controlled his own circumstances.
“It’s past the point of like, getting the league to notice,” Franklin-Myers told The Denver Post in early September. “Now itap just like, I’m going to make it undoubtable, you know? And I’m just — I’m going to do what I know I can do, but I’ma play harder than I have because I know I can.
“And shoot, I owe it to this team, owe it to my teammates, fans, my family, you know what I’m saying?”
Broncos NFL free agency 2026 tracker: J.K. Dobbins is back and JFM is gone
He, indeed, made his value undeniable in 2025, with a career-best 7.5 sacks in 16 games for the Broncos. And Franklin-Myers is now headed for a monster payday elsewhere, signing a three-year deal worth a total of $63 million with Tennessee, a source confirmed to The Post on Monday.
Denver ultimately never put an offer in front of Franklin-Myers, after sensing his value would inflate too high beyond the front office's price point. In the past year, the Broncos have signed nose tackle D.J. Jones, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, defensive end Zach Allen, and defensive tackle Malcolm Roach to long-term deals. Allen was the highest priority in the summer of 2025, followed by Bonitto; Roach is a high-quality reserve who ultimately signed for less than half of what Franklin-Myers commanded in free agency.
Even as nearly every impact name in the room around him received a nice handout from the Walton-Penner ownership group, Franklin-Myers continued to remain gracious to Denver and never careened around in public with his demands for a new contract.
“Man, I don’t care, shoot," Franklin-Myers told reporters after the Broncos' season ended in January. "I mean, I’m so happy for these dudes, and they changed they lives — they changed their family’s life. And these people work hard, as hard as I’ve ever seen in my life. And man, anybody that gets that opportunity to change their life, I can’t be mad at.
"When my time comes, it comes," Franklin-Myers said, a few words later. "And man, I’m happy. I’m happy to be here. I was happy to be able to play football for the Broncos this year. And we’ll see what happens.”
His time has come in Tennessee, now, where the 29-year-old Franklin-Myers will join the same team his contract year began against. The Titans' writing was on the wall, really, since former Jets defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton was hired by the Titans before the 2025 season; Whitecotton coached Franklin-Myers for three years in New York, and made clear in an August conversation with The Post that he still loved Franklin-Myers.
Tennessee also traded for Franklin-Myers' former Jets teammate Jermaine Johnson a week ago, and Johnson's set about not-so-subtly recruiting Franklin-Myers on Twitter since. Johnson, in fact, called Franklin-Myers during the week of the NFL Combine -- on the very same day he was traded.
The 29-year-old Franklin-Myers was a key contributor to the Broncos' NFL-best pass rush in 2024 and 2025, racking up a total of 14.5 sacks and 33 quarterback hits across his two years in Denver. He had a "low-key telepathic" connection on the interior with Allen, as rookie Jordan Miller told The Post at one point last season. And he served as a mentor for Denver's 2025 third-round pick Sai'vion Jones, even with Jones likely in a position to compete for Franklin-Myers' vacant job come 2026.
"It just shows his character,” Jones told The Post. “To me, itap clear what he values. He doesn’t value football more than his teammates."
With Franklin-Myers now gone, the attention invariably turns to Jones, who will become a key part of Denver's 2026 plans. The Broncos need either Jones or reserve Eyioma Uwazurike to assert themselves come training camp; it's possible Roach also gets more rotational looks in a by-committee approach. Denver, too, could look to bring another cheap veteran piece in the room in free agency.
Broncos land two comp picks. Mr. Irrelevant in the 2026 draft may just don Broncos colors.
Denver on Monday was officially awarded two compensatory seventh-round picks by the NFL and they're the final two selections of the draft.
The pair of picks is due to the Broncos losing more players in free agency than they gained last spring.
Denver is expected to add the picks. Now they are finalized: Nos. 256 and 257 overall in the 2026 draft. The Broncos have nine overall selections now, beginning with No. 30 near the end of the first round.
The Broncos are currently in line for a likely fourth-round comp pick in 2027 for losing Franklin-Myers, though a major free agency signing could cancel that out should Denver make one.
Adkins near minimum. The Broncos' one-year deal with tight end Nate Adkins, agreed to Sunday, is for $1.635 million total, according to OvertheCap data. That breaks down as follows: $1.165 million base salary, just above league minimum, a $300,000 signing bonus and $170,000 in per-game roster bonuses. Adkins will count $1.555 million against Denver's 2026 cap.
