Broncos Floated as Free Agency Destination for $128 Million Pro Bowler

The Denver Broncos altered the franchise’s trajectory last offseason, selecting Bo Nix with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 draft. This offseason, the Broncos can focus on building up Nix’s supporting cast, and an option like Stefon Diggs could prove savvy.

Diggs is coming off a torn ACL, which he suffered in Week 8 of the regular season. The Broncos have several young receivers with intriguing potential.  However, they are light on experience.

The 33rd Team’s Tyler Brooke believes the Houston Texans star, Diggs, could fill the gaps.

“Courtland Sutton is a true No. 1 receiver, while Marvin Mims has emerged as a serious vertical threat on the opposite side. Devaughn Vele is an intriguing big-bodied slot, but a healthy Diggs could be an upgrade in the slot while moving around the field in different alignments,” Brooke wrote on March 4.

“Diggs brings a skill set to the position that Denver’s other receivers don’t have, and with $40 million in cap space, they have enough cap space to work on a move if both sides are interested.”

The Texans acquired Diggs in a trade with the Buffalo Bills during the 2024 offseason. He finished the campaign with 47 receptions for 496 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He would have ranked third on the Broncos in all three stats.

Diggs recorded six straight seasons with over 1,000 yards receiving entering 2024.

Per Stathead, Diggs ranks third in the league in catches and is sixth in touchdowns and yards since entering the league as the No. 146 overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015.

Stefon Diggs Gets Bad News on Potential Return to Texans

Diggs’ future became more uncertain following a report that the Texans had a limit to how far they would work to retain him.

“With the wideout room, the headline offseason question is what do the Texans do with the impending free agency of Diggs,” ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime wrote on March 6. “Both [Texans head coach DeMeco] Ryans and Texans general manager Nick Caserio had glowing comments about Diggs and see value in having him back.

“Diggs made $22.52 million in 2024 from the Texans, but a team source told ESPN it’ll come down to finding a team-friendly number if they were to re-sign him. Something less than what he made in 2024.”

Over The Cap projects the Texans to be $982,741 over the salary cap.

They are also dealing with another receiver who suffered a season-ending injury during the campaign in Tank Dell.

The Texans traded for Diggs. But Dell is younger and was a draft pick who was on the rise before the five-time Pro Bowler landed with the Texans. That could leave Diggs looking for a new home for 2025 and the Broncos offering a pass-heavy offense.

Diggs was on a one-year, $22.5 million contract.

According to Over The Cap, Diggs has earned $128 million in his career. Spotrac projects Diggs’ market value at a one-year, $13.5 million deal.

Diggs also grew disgruntled with his situations in Buffalo and Minnesota, leading those organizations to trade him. He has played a full slate of regular season games four times, three of which have come since the league went to 17-game schedules, due to injury.

Stefon Diggs Could Be Broncos’ WR2

The Athletic ranked Diggs as the WR3 and No. 16 overall projected free agent this offseason, noting Caserio’s comments that the team would be open to bringing Diggs back for the 2025 campaign.

“Though Diggs is a four-time Pro Bowler, he is also probably a very good No. 2 receiver at this point in his career at age 31,” The Athletic’s David DeChant, Jourdan Rodrigue, and Vic Tafur wrote in February. “Teams will have questions about his injury recovery, but there’s no question he is a top receiver in this class.”

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has downplayed the need for a veteran receiver, though.

“I think a veteran wide receiver fits in a ‘need,’” Payton told Kay Adams on “Up & Adams” on February 5. “I would say we’re stronger there than some would think. Devaughn Vele, Troy Franklin. There’s a number of receivers that we drafted a year ago. We’ll look closely through the middle; inside linebacker, safety. There’ll be a few other positions.

“In this equation, you have to say, ‘All right, what’s the draft look like,’ and then, ‘What’s free agency look like,’ and try to figure out the puzzle as to where we find these pieces.”