The Denver Broncos ended an eight-year playoff drought in 2024 thanks to Bo Nix’s promising debut season, making their most recent campaign a modest success. With much reworking to do in the 2025 NFL offseason, the team will have 13 members of its current roster become unrestricted free agents in March, giving them an internal starting point.
None of the team’s impending free agents include any of its big-name stars. Most of its young core remains on rookie contracts. The surrounding veterans, including Courtland Sutton and Garrett Bolles, are already locked up on long-term deals. The team will have bigger fish to fry when some deals expire in 2026, but they can remain conservative for now.
The Broncos’ most notable free agent will likely be running back Javonte Williams, who has been with the team since 2021. However, after four years of injury woes and inconsistency, it is possible that Denver would rather wash its hands of his situation than bring him back on a cheap deal.
With the Broncos likely to address any in-house extensions before hitting the free agency market, they must prioritize four players more than the rest.
Broncos need to re-sign LB Cody Barton in free agency
The Broncos found success by riding their defense in 2024, and Cody Barton was at the center of its core all season. Over the past three years, Barton has turned into a high-flying tackle machine, notching his third straight season with over 100 tackles.
His 106 total stops were second on the team behind safety Brandon Jones. Despite being on his third team in as many years, Barton quickly became an emotional leader for Denver’s defense.
Six years into his career, Barton is unlikely to develop into a premier tackler over the middle of the field. But for a player within his price range, he is as reliable as it gets. With defensive coordinator Vance Joseph fielding head coaching interest, George Paton and Sean Payton must prioritize retaining as much of the current defense as possible. Re-signing Barton would be a big step in that direction.
Broncos should retain LB Justin Strnad in 2025
Keeping Justin Strnad would be an ideal second move if the Broncos re-sign Barton. Barton and Strnad were the two starting inside linebackers of Joseph’s 3-4 scheme, where they formed one of the league’s most underrated linebacking corps.
In his fourth year, Strnad finally broke out for the Broncos. He posted a career-high 73 stops after emerging as a full-time starter. In a contract year, Strnad delivered and proved worth keeping for at least one more year.
Of his 73 tackles, eight were behind the line of scrimmage, including three sacks. Joseph’s defense relies on pressure from outside linebackers, making his numbers from the middle of the field particularly impressive. He still has a lot of areas to improve in, but the potential he showed in 2024 is worth another look.
Assuming no team over-reaches for his talents, Strnad’s asking price will be well within the Broncos’ budget. That is precisely why he should return for another cycle.
Broncos need to prioritize QB Jarrett Stidham
Maybe this will not be a priority move, but bringing Jarrett Stidham back would be an excellent under-the-radar move. An often overlooked aspect of a young quarterback’s development is personnel consistency, beginning with the players he will share a room with the most.
Denver’s 2024 quarterback room was notoriously tight, as Nix, Stidham and Zach Wilson seemingly formed a close bond. Nix is obviously sticking around, but Stidham and Wilson’s contracts have expired. Perhaps they do not bring back all three, but Stidham, as the team’s veteran, should be the one to return.
The team hopes to see no quarterback other than Nix on the field in 2025. But if they do, few backups around the league would be better bets than Stidham. Payton’s complicated offensive playbook is notoriously difficult for newcomers to comprehend, which explains why he prefers consistency with his signal-callers.
There is no reason why the Broncos should break the bank on Stidham, but there are a lot of reasons many fans do not consider that they should want to keep him around.
Broncos should want to keep FB Michael Burton in free agency
Fullbacks are not the players they used to be, making it difficult to find a reliable one in 2024. Michael Burton is not the versatile player that Kyle Juszczyk or Patrick Ricard is, but is a guy the front office has clearly taken a liking to and should want back.
Burton would be a key player to retain in a run game that has struggled as much as the Broncos. Unlike Williams, who is also an unrestricted free agent, Burton provides a skill set that is not as easily replaceable. It can be argued that no player has been a better backfield blocker than Burton over the past two seasons.
Despite his lack of public recognition, Burton’s blue-collar work has not gone unnoticed. With a PFF player grade of 66.1, he was the site’s highest-rated fullback in 2025, above Juszczyk and Ricard, who will appear in the 2025 Pro Bowl.
Like Strnad and Stidham, Denver cannot get overzealous with Burton but should, at the very least, examine his asking price. A team-friendly deal should be well within reach.
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