Broncos Set to Take Closer Look at ‘Versatile’ Big-Bodied Playmaker: Report

The Denver Broncos could add another weapon for quarterback Bo Nix, this time with another UFL product in tight end Gunnar Oakes. An undrafted free agent out of Eastern Michigan in 2023, he spent 2024 and 2025 with the Michigan Panthers.

He caught 14 passes for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns in nine games in 2025.

He has appeared in back-to-back championship games with the Panthers, reaching the big stage in the UFL and USFL.

“News: The Denver #Broncos will be working out @USFLPanthers TE Gunnar Oakes, per league source,” Pro Football Network’s James Larsen reported on X on June 20. “Oakes earned All-#UFL honors with Michigan this year, posting 162 yards & 2 TD’s.

“At 6’5”, 256 lbs., Oakes is a versatile TE – who was key as a run blocker in 2025 for MICH.”

Oakes spent five seasons at EMU, racking up 56 receptions, 621 yards, and 2 scores.

The Broncos would be Oakes’ second attempt at making an NFL roster. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2023 UFL draft but did not sign with the team due to landing a training camp tryout with the Atlanta Falcons.

If signed, Oakes would join Mario Goodrich and 2024 addition Dondrea Tillman as former UFL players on the Broncos roster.

Gunnar Oakes Trying To Earn Spot in Loaded Broncos TE Room

Oakes’ path to a roster spot with the Broncos is murky at best. He happens to play a position that the Broncos have paid special attention to this offseason.

The Broncos signed tight end Evan Engram in free agency from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The former New York Giants first-round pick signed a two-year, $23 million contract and has embraced expectations that he will play a large role in the offense.

Denver also drafted Caleb Lohner in the seventh round of the 2025 draft.

Moreover, Denver still has 2024 holdovers, Adam Trautman, Lucas Krull, and Nate Adkins, and signed 2025 UDFA Caden Prieskorn earlier in June.

It could be difficult for Oakes to prove his worth to the Broncos as a blocker, since teams are limited on days they wear pads, let alone hit before the regular season. The preseason could provide opportunities, but he has a steep climb, nonetheless.

Broncos Taking Volume Approach After Low TE Production

Potentially working in Oakes’ favor, the Broncos incumbents’ production was such that the team has thrown numbers at the position this offseason, in addition to value. Even that value play, Engram, comes with significant risks.

Engram has played in every regular-season contest in a single campaign three times

He did so in 2022 and 2023, earning Pro Bowl honors in the latter. However, Engram has also missed at least two games in four of his eight seasons in the NFL, including nine in 2024.

Lohner is a project himself and does not project as a plus-blocker right out of the box, which could earn Oakes some favor with the Broncos’ coaching staff. Broncos rookies will report for training camp on July 16, with veterans joining them on July 22.

Trautman and Adkins, the latter of whom also lines up at H-back, could be Oakes’ greatest obstacles to earning a roster spot with the Broncos this offseason.