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Broncos To Sign TE Evan Engram

March 12th, 2025 at 11:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

The AFC West duel that formed for Evan Engram has broken the Broncos’ way. After meeting with the Broncos and Chargers, Engram is heading to Denver.

The two-time Pro Bowl tight end is committing to the Broncos on a two-year deal, according to his agency (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). It is unclear if the Bolts submitted an offer, but they scheduled a visit with the eight-year veteran. Engram will join a Broncos team that featured a greater need for a receiving tight end.

Engram’s deal comes after another former Payton-era Saint, Juwan Johnson, signed a three-year, $30.75MM deal to stay in New Orleans. It would stand to reason the Broncos pursued Johnson, who is going into his age-29 season. They will land a player who has proven more as a receiver, but one going into an age-31 season. The Broncos are giving Engram $23MM over two seasons, with NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reporting $16.5MM will be fully guaranteed. This is a nice haul for a player the Jaguars cut last week.

Fetching more than Johnson and Mike Gesicki on a per-year basis, Engram also has done well for guarantees. This certainly points to the Broncos fending off competition for a player who has two Pro Bowls on his resume. The Jags bailed on Engram’s three-year, $41.25MM extension with one year left, and the Broncos will hope the former first-round pick can address a yearslong issue.

Including Noah Fant in their 2022 Russell Wilson trade, the Broncos have not come especially close to replacing the middling TE’s production. Injuries significantly limited Greg Dulcich in Denver, and the former third-round pick did not prove a fit in Sean Payton’s offense. While the Broncos re-signed ex-Saints draftee Adam Trautman last year, he posted just 188 receiving yards; that led Denver tight ends in 2024. The Chargers may have possessed a need as well, but 2024 addition Will Dissly nearly reached 500 yards last season.

Not profiling as a prolific red zone threat (25 touchdowns in eight seasons), Engram still helped the Jaguars during most of his stay. Given a one-year deal in 2021, Engram broke Jacksonville’s single-season TE receiving yardage record — with 766. That led to a franchise tag and an extension, as Engram added seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown in the Jags’ wild-card comeback win over the Bolts that year. Engram’s 963-yard season in 2023 came on 114 catches — second-most in Jaguars history. A hamstring issue and a labrum tear slowed Engram in 2024, limiting him to nine games.

Surpassing 650 yards twice as a Giant, Engram was inconsistent during Eli Manning‘s final seasons and Daniel Jones‘ early years. A more refined version of the playmaker should have a chance to make noise in Denver, which did not boast much receiving consistency outside of Courtland Sutton last season. Engram will join Sutton and younger receivers for Payton, who appeared to have placed the Broncos’ TE and RB needs over perceived desire to add a starter-level WR.

Broncos To Bring Back LB Justin Strnad

March 12th, 2025 at 8:41am CST by Sam Robinson

Dre Greenlaw is now the Broncos’ top linebacker, though Alex Singleton is on the way back from his ACL tear. Justin Strnad, however, is coming back after increased 2024 usage.

Strnad is re-signing with the Broncos on a one-year, $2.7MM contract, DNVR Sports’ Zac Stevens tweets. Strnad, who backed out of a Panthers deal in 2024 to stay in Denver, worked alongside Cody Barton as a regular last season.

Having gone two seasons without a start, Strnad also played zero LB snaps in 2022 and ’23. The 2020 Denver draftee, however, became needed after Singleton’s Week 3 injury. Jonas Griffith, who had competed with Barton for the role alongside Singleton in training camp, also went down to leave Strnad as an emergency option. He ended up starting eight games and playing a career-high 676 defensive snaps for a Broncos team that surprised most by making the playoffs.

The usual special-teamer was productive in his increased role, registering eight tackles for loss and three sacks last season. Making 73 tackles in total, Strnad also broke up three passes. Neither Barton nor Strnad was a plus player in coverage for a Broncos team that had also lost Josey Jewell in last year’s free agency, and Pro Football Focus rated Strnad as a bottom-10 LB regular in 2024. But Denver will keep him around as a backup once again. This marks Strnad’s second one-year Broncos accord.

Greenlaw agreed on a three-year, $35MM contract to follow ex-49ers teammate Talanoa Hufanga to Denver. The Broncos will hope the former Fred Warner sidekick is healthy, after a Super Bowl LVIII Achilles tear marred the 49ers’ championship fortunes and the LB’s 2024 season, but they have Strnad back as an option behind two veteran players coming off injuries. This signing also comes after the Broncos have settled on an ILB role for hybrid ‘backer Drew Sanders.

Broncos To Sign WR Trent Sherfield

March 11th, 2025 at 7:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Broncos have been linked to needing significant wide receiver help, Sean Payton has mentioned a tight end or running back — a joker, in Payton parlance — as the team’s bigger need. Denver is making a lower-level receiver addition tonight, however.

Trent Sherfield is signing with the Broncos, according to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, who indicates it is a two-year agreement. This deal comes nearly a year after the Broncos gave Josh Reynolds a similar contract. Reynolds’ checked in at $9MM; Sherfield’s is worth $8MM.

Sherfield, 29, has played a backup role for most of his career. He started one game for the Vikings last season. While the Broncos attempted to integrate Reynolds into their offense, his IR trip for a finger injury — and later suffering injuries in a minor shooting — preceded an eventual separation. The Broncos turned to rookie-contract players to supplement Courtland Sutton after Reynolds hit IR.

Given the usage rates Marvin Mims, Devaughn Vele and Troy Franklin racked up last season, it would surprise if Sherfield became a receiving regular for the Broncos. The eight-year veteran has one 300-yard receiving season on his resume, which came in 2022 as a Dolphins WR3. He totaled 86 yards with the Bills in 2023 and 83 with the Vikings last season.

Sherfield’s contract would point to him being a good bet to be on the Broncos’ 53-man roster. With Mims, Franklin and Vele all expected back and Sutton being on the team’s extension radar, the Broncos may only have one receiver spot to offer — and even that would not be a given. If the Broncos are to pursue one of the veteran wideout options — from Amari Cooper to Keenan Allen to Tyler Lockett to the cut-candidate Cooper Kupp — to aid Bo Nix, roster math may not support it.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/10/25

March 10th, 2025 at 10:41pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor NFL moves that may have been missed during an otherwise extremely busy first day of the tampering period:

Arizona Cardinals

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

Broncos, LB Dre Greenlaw Agree To Deal

March 10th, 2025 at 6:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos are investing heavily in recent 49ers defensive standouts. Dre Greenlaw will be joining Talanoa Hufanga in Denver, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports.

This agreement ends a six-season Greenlaw stay in San Francisco. Like Hufanga, Greenlaw saw the back end of his Bay Area stay marred by injuries. The Broncos will take a chance on another standout starter (when healthy) and one whose setback played a central role in a Super Bowl outcome.

Greenlaw will join the Broncos on a three-year, $35MM accord, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Despite a seminal Achilles tear in Super Bowl LVIII and barely playing last season, Greenlaw will score a much better deal than he did when he signed a 49ers extension (two years, $16.4MM). In need at linebacker, the Broncos will bet on the form Greenlaw showed alongside Fred Warner.

A strong coverage player before suffering the Achilles injury — one sustained while trotting onto the field during the first half against the Chiefs — Greenlaw combined to make 147 tackles from 2022-23. He and Warner became a top-tier linebacking duo, but injuries have been an issue for Greenlaw beyond that Super Bowl. The former fifth-round find missed 14 games in 2021 due to a groin injury. Last season, Greenlaw did not debut until December; he logged just 30 snaps upon being activated.

While an argument exists Greenlaw’s injury cost the 49ers a championship, a player Pro Football Focus tabbed a top-25 linebacker (ninth in 2022) will attempt to help a Broncos team that lost Cody Barton (to the Titans) earlier today. Denver lost Alex Singleton to an ACL tear in Week 3 of last season, using Barton and special-teamer Justin Strnad as its primary LBs. Strnad is also a free agent, while Singleton is going into an age-31 season coming off a major injury. The Broncos probably are not done at ILB, but Greenlaw profiles as their new centerpiece there.

The Titans, Texans and Cowboys showed preliminary Greenlaw interest, per The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson, but the Broncos will come out of Day 1 with two ex-49ers bastions.

Broncos To Sign S Talanoa Hufanga

March 10th, 2025 at 1:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Carrying an interesting market into free agency, Talanoa Hufanga has blended one of this decade’s top safety seasons with an injury-plagued recent past. The former All-Pro, however, has naturally generated interest.

The Broncos are signing the three-year starter, 9News’ Mike Klis reports. Denver had been mentioned as a team pursuing Hufanga, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, even though they return both their 2024 safety starters. It would appear Hufanga will be in line to replace P.J. Locke alongside 2024 addition Brandon Jones in the Broncos’ starting lineup.

One of the top safeties available this offseason, Hufanga will not see his ACL tear and subsequent wrist injury cost him too much. His Broncos deal can be worth up to $45MM and includes $20MM guaranteed. Hufanga’s contract betters Jones’; the ex-Dolphin is on the Broncos’ cap sheet on a three-year, $20MM deal.

Denver is adding Hufanga ahead of his age-26 season and will hope the former fifth-round pick can remind of his 2022 form soon. Winning a starting job out of training camp that year, Hufanga intercepted four passes, forced two fumbles and posted two sacks for a top-five 49ers defense that season. Adding five TFLs that year, the USC product took one of his INTs back for a score. A year after cutting Justin Simmons, the Broncos have dived back into the safety market for help.

After a woeful 2023 start, Vance Joseph‘s unit has picked up the pieces. Jones was part of this effort last season, as Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 3 overall safety. Hufanga stands to be an upgrade on Locke, who had helped the 2023 Bronco edition rebound before not faring quite as well last season. Locke is tied to a two-year, $7MM pact and could well slide back to the second-string role he played behind Simmons and Kareem Jackson prior to 2023. The Broncos could also save more than $4MM by releasing Locke.

The 49ers had expressed interest in re-signing Hufanga, but they did see his injuries give Ji’Ayir Brown and Malik Mustapha extensive playing time. San Francisco may opt to stay young at safety, especially as a big-ticket Brock Purdy extension looms. The Broncos will see Hufanga’s guarantees line up with Bo Nix‘s rookie contract.

Broncos To Meet With TE Evan Engram

March 10th, 2025 at 10:07am CST by Sam Robinson

Bo Nix‘s breakthrough rookie season came without much help at the tight end position. As the Broncos would seem to need help at all three skill-position spots, Sean Payton has emphasized tight end and running back over wide receiver.

A Denver free agency visit underscores that, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Evan Engram is meeting with the Broncos today. The Jaguars made a few moves stripping down their skill group last week, and Engram was moved off the roster. He may well have shot up the TE free agent rankings, and the Broncos will see about a fit ahead of the former first-rounder’s age-31 season.

The Jags moved on from Engram despite the ex-Giants draftee breaking and then re-breaking a franchise record for single-season tight end yardage. After a 766-yard 2023 that featured Engram scoring a touchdown in the Jaguars’ wild-card shootout/collapse against the Chargers, he posted 963 yards in 2024. Engram caught 114 passes in 2023, after signing a three-year extension; only Jimmy Smith‘s 1999 featured more catches (116) by a Jaguar.

Engram’s 2022 slate prompted the Jags to franchise tag him, letting their other tag candidate (Jawaan Taylor) walk. That proved to be a wise decision, but the Jags fired both Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke this offseason. Liam Coen and James Gladstone are retooling, having traded Christian Kirk and cut Josh Reynolds and Devin Duvernay. As the Jags regroup around Brian Thomas Jr., the Broncos are in dire need of receiving help at tight end.

Denver included Noah Fant in the Russell Wilson blockbuster and has been unable to approach the middling first-rounder’s production since. Adam Trautman has been among the brigade of ex-Saints players and coaches to trek to Denver to rejoin Payton, but he has offered little receiving-wise. The Broncos have seen their starting TE go for 204 and 188 yards, respectively, over the past two seasons. This makes even Engram’s nine-game 2024 (365 yards) appear flashy.

While Engram could help the Broncos immediately, it would stand to reason they will explore a draft addition — in a strong TE class — after largely sitting out the market last year. Nix still threw 29 touchdown passes — second-most by a rookie in NFL history — but the Broncos are early in a mission to further help out their new centerpiece player. It would be interesting to see the Broncos add Engram when ex-Saints TE Juwan Johnson is on the market, but the sides are exploring a move that would stand to prevent a Johnson-Payton reunion.

Broncos To Re-Sign DT D.J. Jones

March 9th, 2025 at 11:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

11:25pm: The Broncos have their nose tackle locked up on a second contract, with DNVR Sports’ Zac Stevens reporting the deal is done. Fowler’s update turned out to be on-point, as 9News’ Mike Klis confirms it is a three-year, $39MM pact. Considering his run-oriented skillset, this represents a big win for Jones, though guarantees will tell the full tale. If nothing else, this continues a spree of Broncos extensions and re-signings, as Sean Payton is signing off on paying players acquired by GM George Paton.

11:14pm: Nary a word about D.J. Jones appeared on the PFR pages during his Broncos contract. That is generally a good sign for a lineman. Jones stayed mostly healthy on his three-year Denver deal and was a key role player on some solid defenses, including last season’s. The Broncos may not let him hit free agency.

The veteran defensive tackle is close to a deal to stay in Denver, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. The sides are nearing an agreement on a contract that would be worth around $13MM per year. That would mark a raise for Jones, who played out a three-year, $30MM contract. The interior starter expressed interest in staying in Denver after the team’s 2024 season.

Missing only three games in three seasons, Jones operated as a quality run stopper in Denver. The former San Francisco fifth-round pick came up in a rumor about being traded back to the 49ers at the deadline, but no traction came out of that. Jones started all 17 Broncos games, helping the team snap a playoff drought.

ESPN’s run stop win rate metric viewed Jones as elite last season, ranking him second among interior D-linemen against the run. Not much of a statistical presence, Jones instead helped front-seven pieces Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto earn second-team All-Pro acclaim last season.

Jones did post 42 tackles last season and tallied five TFLs in 2023, helping the team recover after a dreadful defensive start. Denver’s NT compiled five sacks in three seasons with the team. The Broncos ranked third against the run and are interested in keeping Jones and Allen together inside. Allen is targeting an extension, having outplayed a $15MM-per-year deal.

Jones’ age (30) may not be working against him much, as a $13MM-per-year deal would be a nice bump. Denver has already been active in extending its current core, paying Patrick Surtain, Garett Bolles, Jonathon Cooper and Quinn Meinerz last year. The team has Bo Nix tied to a rookie contract through at least 2026, but it is still on the hook for the second leg of Russell Wilson dead money ($30MM-plus) this year.

The Broncos are carrying just more than $40MM in cap space, which would stand to go to some needs in free agency. Jones, however, could take up a notable portion of those funds hours before the market opens. Denver has until 11am CT Monday to nix Jones talks with other teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/9/25

March 9th, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

With free agency less than 12 hours away, here are Sunday’s minor moves:

Denver Broncos

Minnesota Vikings

Both players were set to be restricted free agents. With the low-end tender costing $3.26MM this year, neither team appeared likely to tender their respective RFAs. Fraboni was not set to be tendered, per the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson. Fraboni has been Denver’s long snapper for the past two full seasons, arriving during the 2022 season.

Wright has been the Vikings’ punter for the past three years. He averaged a career-high 48.9 yards per punt in 2023 and checked in at 46.5 last season. Wright will earn $1.75MM on a one-year contract, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.

Broncos To Re-Sign QB Jarrett Stidham

March 9th, 2025 at 6:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

After seeing their Bo Nix draft choice create considerable promise, the Broncos relegated Jarrett Stidham from a starter competition to 17-game backup. But the team is planning to extend its Stidham partnership.

Nix’s 2024 backup is staying in Denver, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This will be Stidham’s second Broncos contract, after he initially arrived on a two-year deal to back up Russell Wilson. Stidham is staying on a two-year, $12MM deal, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini tweets. This is a slight raise for the former Patriots draftee, who played out a two-year, $10MM contract. Stidham, 28, will see $7MM guaranteed, per the Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel.

Stidham became contract protection for a second straight year, closing out the 2023 season as a two-game Broncos starter. As the Broncos moved to protect against Wilson’s injury guarantee from vesting, they made the move at the same juncture (Week 17) the Raiders did when they moved him into their 2022 starting lineup. Stidham replaced Derek Carr for two games but did not stick around, signing with the Broncos. Rather than bail after Nix won last year’s job and delivered a strong rookie season, Stidham will remain as a mentor.

A six-year veteran, Stidham had entered camp taking first-string reps. But with Nix making a Division I-FBS QB-record 61 starts at Auburn and Oregon, Stidham — Nix’s Auburn QB1 predecessor — never looked like a real threat to hold off the rookie for too long. As it turned out, Nix impressed in the preseason and Sean Payton gave his handpicked passer the job. Stidham’s second Broncos contract will overlap with the two additional seasons in which Nix must stay on a rookie deal.

Stidham went 1-3 as a starter during his 2022 and ’23 two-fers, delivering an impressive performance in a Raiders shootout loss to the 49ers. He guided the Broncos to a win over the Chargers in Week 17 of the 2023 season as well. Those are Stidham’s only four career starts, but the former fourth-round pick has made a nice career as a backup. Stidham did beat out Zach Wilson to become Nix’s backup throughout last season, and with this contract, the former No. 2 overall Jets pick may need to head elsewhere in free agency.

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