Tight end seems to be a nightmare for the Broncos. The team hasn’t had a star at the position since Julius Thomas. Defensively, the draft has been nothing but horrendous over the past decade. Denver has also been struggling covering the best tight ends in the league. It is always raised as a concern by the organization, but nothing is done to address the situation. How do you explain that? Any hope for the team to get better in 2026 on both sides of the ball? Cheers from Canadian fans!
— Sylvain, Montreal, Canada
Hey Sylvain, thanks for writing in from across the border and for getting us going on this end-of-preseason edition of the mailbag.
Tight end has indeed been a riddle the Broncos haven’t solved in a truly difference-making way for several years. We’ll mostly cover Denver’s position group and what they did and didn’t do this offseason, then at the end touch a bit on your defensive concerns, too.
There have been questions for years about where the Broncos would find the next great pass-catching tight end since Julius Thomas. They’ve cycled through options including, in more recent seasons, draft picks like Albert Okwuegbunam and Greg Dulcich. They took a swing in free agency last spring with Evan Engram, too.
When last season ended, the cards set up for Denver to potentially try to overhaul the room. Instead, between the 53-man roster and practice squad, they’ve got four guys back from last year plus seventh-rounder Dallen Bentley, and they waived the biggest external investment they made at the position on Sunday, fifth-round draft pick Justin Joly.
Still, head coach Sean Payton on Wednesday said he likes where the group stands heading into the season.
The biggest chance to make a splash probably would have been this spring via free agency, but as it approached, Denver judged that the market on tight ends was going to be richer than they were willing to pay. They likely saw players they thought could upgrade their room, but sources then and since have said that they weren’t comfortable with the price differential compared to retaining their own players for what they thought might have been, at best, moderate upgrades.
So they went on a retention run instead. They re-signed Adam Trautman to a three-year, $17 million deal and inked one-year agreements with Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull. They kept Engram rather than releasing him as a salary cap casualty.
In the draft, a run of tight ends right ahead of Denver’s first pick took players they may well have been interested in off the board. Kenyon Sadiq (No. 21 overall) was never going to be available, but then Eli Stowers, Nate Boerkircher and Marlin Klein went between Nos. 54 and 59. The one that stung the most: Max Klare went No. 61 to the Rams one pick ahead of Denver’s first selection.
Denver could still have looked at a few other tight ends — four more went between Nos. 69 and 95 for a total of nine in the top 95 picks — but apparently didn’t like what they saw enough to do so. They ended up with Joly and Bentley on Day 3 of the draft and, of course, waived Joly and watched him get claimed by Miami at the end of the preseason.
There’s little doubt that the position remains one of need in the short and long term, but Payton is expressing confidence that the group can be more dynamic this fall than it was last fall, despite being very similar in construction. That burden mostly falls on Engram and Trautman. If either misses time, the depth will be tested quickly. The Broncos also have a wild card in Caleb Lohner if he can get on the field in the middle of the season when he recovers from injury.
There aren’t a ton of true difference-making tight ends out there. Not every team has a George Kittle, a Tucker Kraft or a Kyle Pitts. Denver and everybody else in the NFL would love to find the next great one. In the meantime, the Broncos have who they have and they’re confident that group is going to be good enough.
Engram believes he’s in for an uptick in production and Adkins could use a bounce-back after dealing with multiple injuries last year. Trautman is steady and his presence and system understanding is deeply appreciated by the staff and his teammates.
Is it a perfect group? No. Is it one that, at the end of the season, could draw some what-ifs if the Broncos don’t get where they’re trying to go? Definitely possible. Denver, though, is going to rely heavily on its receivers and running backs and the staff is banking in part on the idea that adding a weapon like Jaylen Waddle will make life easier on the tight ends, too.
Just quickly on the defensive end, coordinator Vance Joseph had an insightful answer last year about, defending tight ends with scheme and structure.
“You can cover a back or tight end with certain structures,” Joseph said in January. “He can’t leave until he blocks first.”
Another part of the equation is that teams will attack those players a lot because they’re loath to test Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss too often.
One thing I’m interested in early in the season: Which inside linebacker stays in the game when Joseph goes to his dime defense? Itap been Alex Singleton when healthy since Joseph has been here. Might it instead be Justin Strnad this fall?
How shocked were you that Lil’Jordan Humphrey got a roster spot instead of a practice squad designation? (Assuming no one picked him up.) Was his preseason really that strong that it forced the Broncos to keep six wide receivers and lose someone like Reese Taylor? Him and Tyler Badie are two major surprises to me.
— Mike C., Santa Clarita, Calif.
Hey Mike, thanks for writing in and good question. I have to say, I was not shocked. I didn’t put Humphrey on either of my final two 53-man projections, but in one I wrote he was deserving of a spot and in the other I reiterated that he’ll definitely be part of Denver’s plan.
I know fans maybe don’t like to hear that, but he really did have a terrific training camp. He really does have the trust of the coaching staff. He plays his role well. He’s long, tough, good in the run game and plays extensively on special teams. That might not be a glossy profile, but it plays in the NFL.
There are a couple of rules at play to consider when you’re talking about keeping guys or trying to get them to the practice squad. The first is the difference between a vested veteran and non-vested. Vested veterans are released, so they are not subject to waivers and they can sign with any team without limitation. Non-vested players are waived, go on waivers for a day and can be claimed by another team without any say from the player or the team that originally waived him.
Among the Broncos vets this year who were on one-year deals without big money attached and thus figured to be candidates for getting released and re-signed to the practice squad included Humphrey, FB Adam Prentice, QB Sam Ehlinger, OLs Calvin Throckmorton and Matt Peart and long snapper Mitch Fraboni.
Once you’re on the practice squad, though, you can only be elevated three times for games. And teams can only elevate two per game. That makes the current situation easy to figure out. The Broncos need a fullback and a long snapper. So, assuming they don’t end up moving Prentice or Fraboni to the 53-man roster before Sept. 14, those two will be elevated. Anybody else who they tried to convince to start on the practice squad would not have been able to come up. Or they could have kept Fraboni on the 53, tried the p-squad move with Humphrey and ended up in basically the same place.
So for Throckmorton, for example, if the team stays healthy and as-is for the next couple of weeks, his chance at being elevated for a game doesn’t really start until Week 4, after the Fraboni and Prentice have been elevated three times and then, likely, added to the 53-man roster.
Basically, you can read it like this: The Broncos had more veterans in this little club that they wanted active for games early in the season than they could stash on the practice squad. So they put the two that were willing to take that deal on the p-squad and kept the others (Humphrey, Peart and Ehlinger) on the 53 so they can be up — Ehlinger as the designated emergency third quarterback — on game days, too.
There has been a fair amount of speculation regarding trading Riley Moss. What if the Broncos move Jahdae Barron to safety and keep Moss? Moss is a solid corner. Unless they can get a third-round draft pick for him, perhaps they should keep him?
— Kenny Wikler, Lake Oswego
Hey Kenny, thanks for writing in. I have been writing for months that the secondary represents one of the most interesting position groups and decision sets on the roster, but that none of those decisions necessarily have to be made this offseason. As of this moment, thatap exactly how itap played out. The Broncos haven’t traded Moss or anybody else out of the cornerback room, but they also haven’t extended Moss or nickel Ja’Quan McMillian ahead of the start of their contract years, either. That could still change before the opener. Itap been quiet so far, but these things can accelerate quickly, especially ahead of deadlines.
Letap take this in a couple of quick parts. Moss first. He draws strong reactions from fans and he drew too many penalties last year — they cut down quite a bit after the team’s bye week — but Moss can really play. And he’s had a terrific training camp. There are teams out there where he’d be the best corner on the team, and if he plays this fall like he has this summer, somebody’s going to pay him as such. Maybe that team will be the Broncos, but they also have to plan for the reality that Bo Nix is extension-eligible next summer. Denver can’t pay everybody going forward.
There are 10 corners in football (including Pat Surtain II, of course) and four more in the $19 million range. There are a couple of Moss’ 2023 classmates in contract talks/disputes currently in New England’s Christian Gonzalez and Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter Jr. Throw Detroitap Brian Branch in that mix, too. By next summer, you’re also talking about 2024s like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, too. The price tag is going up.
The price for Moss in a trade would be steep, too. If he hits free agency this fall, he’s likely going to result in a substantial comp pick for the Broncos. That wouldn’t arrive until 2028, but could be as high as a third- or fourth-rounder. And in that scenario, Denver gets his services this year, too. It would take a Day 2 pick and more, most likely, to be worth even considering for Denver. Plus, they’re in Super Bowl mode.
If either he or McMillian is gone next year, though, that opens a spot in the lineup for Barron. Just for kicks, letap say McMillian is in Denver long-term but Moss and safety Brandon Jones depart via free agency. Denver could at least consider bumping Barron back to safety and turning the perimeter job over to Kris Abrams-Draine.
For now, though, suffice it to say there are many different ways that picture can play out over the next nine or so months. There is also bound to be work for Barron this fall somewhere along the way beyond his current role as the dime. Itap just not yet quite clear when and where thatap going to appear.
I know that the Broncos’ offensive line is near the top in several metrics, but there are two things I rarely see: 1. Bo Nix having all day to throw from a clean pocket. 2. Great big running lanes for the running backs. I’m not sure all those other metrics really matter. What do you think?
— Dan Smith, Estacada, Ore.
Hey Dan, thanks for writing in and good observations and question.
I can understand your thought on Nix and the clean pocket, but is that because they don’t exist or because Nix either gets the ball out on time or, in his first two seasons, has looked to get out of the pocket after a couple of beats even when itap clean? My sense from the way Payton and offensive coordinator Davis Webb have talked this offseason is that they’re expecting to see Nix hang in the pocket a little more this fall, even if he isn’t really more of a “pocket passer” if that makes sense.
On the running lanes, first off, there just aren’t often massive gulfs in NFL games. Once in a while, but not often.
Then, I bet if we went back and watched all of the Broncos’ tape from the first 10 weeks with J.K. Dobbins playing and compared it to after, you’d notice more difference in running back decision-making than in what the room to operate looked like. The efficiency rating and other running back metrics all pointed to a major shift when Dobbins got hurt and RJ Harvey took over. Did the offensive line suddenly deteriorate even while playing the same guys? Or was Harvey just not quite ready for that role?
All five players on this line are veterans. They’re all highly paid — though Ben Powers took a pay cut this summer — and they’ve played together a ton.
Even in an overall enviable situation, though, there are questions to answer. Can McGlinchey and Bolles continue to play at a high level into their 30s? Is Luke Wattenberg fully healthy after dealing with an apparent shoulder injury most of camp? Can Powers play up to his standard in the final year of his deal, coming off two major injuries in 2025?
Parker, in looking at the Broncos’ most recent rendering of the new stadium and surrounding development, I didn’t see any parking lots. What am I missing?
— Paul, Livermore
Parker! Hey now from Wyoming! I am a Broncos season-ticket holder and I’m very concerned about the new stadium rendering that was recently released as I don’t see any parking on site. Driving four-plus hours one way only to have to park at RTD isn’t very appealing. What about those of us who like to tailgate? What are you hearing?
— Mark C., Casper, Wyo.
A couple of questions about parking at a proposed new Broncos stadium, so letap get to them. The short answer is that the team says the new stadium will have about as many parking spots as Empower Field, which means if you want to drive to a game there, you most likely can.
The parking experience, however, will look very different. Itap also going to depend on if you’re talking about the first year the stadium is open or five years after that.
On the southwest end of the stadium in the current renderings, there’s a large open area that is a planned tailgate yard So thatap one part of the multi-use district thatap designed to have more of a traditional park-and-tailgate feel. They’ve also shown renderings of large boulevard-type streets that provide some parking.
The real key, though, is that in 2031 much of the adjoining district will not yet be completed and, thus, there will be more surface parking available.
The plan for some of those areas is that, essentially, the surface parking will ultimately be replaced by structure parking when buildings are built. What might be a surface lot in 2031 could be a ramp that goes underground and serves as the foundation of an office building, or be incorporated into a block with bars, restaurants, retail, etc.
The Broncos have fielded many parking questions from fans as they work to get this stadium project approved. The experience is definitely going to be different on that front, though the club’s been adamant that the net number of parking spots isn’t projected to change.
Itap also fair to say, I think, that there’s hope from the team, the city, the state and other stakeholders that more fans will use public transit to get to Burnham Yard, too.
