The Broncos fit the last piece back into place Friday morning, agreeing to terms with running back Jaleel McLaughlin to re-sign him on a one-year deal with a base value of $1.145 million and a signing bonus of $125,000, a source with knowledge of the contract confirmed to The Denver Post. The deal ensures that every member of the Broncos’ backfield from last season — J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey, McLaughlin, Tyler Badie and Adam Prentice — are all now back in the fold entering 2026’s training camp.
McLaughlin endured a rocky 2025 season, activated for just one game in the first half of the year as head coach Sean Payton turned to Badie as Denver’s third back on gamedays.
“I mean, itap a tough decision, because Jaleel’s such a good player,” ex-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said in early September. “I think most of it was just third-down protection, and just, (Badie’s) a little stouter in there. But itap hard not to have Jaleel up there on gameday.”
After Dobbins was lost for the season to a Lisfranc injury in November, though, McLaughlin quickly assumed a greater role in Denver’s backfield and was one of the Broncos’ best skill players by a sheer per-touch basis. In nine games through the end of the regular season and playoffs, McLaughlin ran for 219 yards and a touchdown on 44 carries (5.0 yards per carry).
McLaughlin has produced consistently since signing with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2023 out of Youngstown State, cracking the team’s initial 53-man roster after a standout preseason in his rookie year. In three cumulative seasons in Denver, McLaughlin has rushed for a total of 1,093 yards on 4.8 yards per carry. He’s never been used as much more than a change-of-pace back, however: across those three seasons, he’s received a touch on nearly 50% of his snaps.
The Broncos carry 90 players on their offseason roster, not just 53, as they do during the season. It’s highly unlikely that Denver will actually head into 2026 with the same Dobbins-Harvey-Badie-McLaughlin quadrant they deployed in 2025, as head coach Sean Payton spoke at length after the season about his dissatisfaction with the Broncos’ run-game consistency.
“When we want to run it under center and control the game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like, I think,” Payton said in late January. “And so, that’ll be an important study. And with urgency. And then also, with the runners.”
The Broncos could look to an impact running back in April’s NFL draft: Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price, Washington’s Jonah Coleman, Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson and Arkansas’ Mike Washington Jr. could all be Day 1 or Day 2 options for Denver.
For now, though, the Broncos are spinning the wheel right back — just as they have at a variety of other positions.
