Somehow, some way, the Denver Broncos have a competent football team. Thanks to a large dose of Sean Payton’s coaching genius and a tougher-than-nails defense, the Broncos are one of the NFL’s biggest surprises at 2-2 headed into a Week 5 home game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
One way the Broncos haven’t been winning: with their offense, whose ineptitude was on display September 29 in a 10-9 win over the New York Jets in which rookie quarterback Bo Nix was historically bad.
“Nix completed 48[%] of his passes for 60 yards with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions,” wrote Heavy Sports’ Josh Buckhalter. “He attempted 12 passes, giving him 2.4 yards per attempt. That is the lowest mark in a win by any QB with at least 25 attempts since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, per NFL researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming on September 29.”
Because he’s the quarterback, Nix gets to shoulder the lion’s share of the blame. And that’s fair. The Broncos’ wide receivers are playing better and the running backs are even showing signs of life. The offensive line is doing their part as well — they didn’t give up a sack against the Jets.
The only position group doing less than Nix to help right now are the tight ends, where Greg Dulcich, Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins have all played in all 4 games but have a combined 8 receptions for 17 yards and no touchdowns.
That’s not going to cut it. The Broncos should make a move before the Nov. 5 trade deadline to obtain a playmaking tight end and should set their sights on Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, a three-time Pro Bowl and former NFL All-Pro who finds himself on the outside looking in with the Ravens’ offense.
Andrews Seemingly Replaced in Ravens’ Offense
Andrews could be a prime candidate for a move leading up to the deadline after a market correction in Baltimore’s offense has seen third-year tight end Isaiah Likely become the top receiving target — he leads the Ravens with 13 receptions for 167 yards and 1 touchdown through 4 games.
It’s a shocking dropoff for Andrews, who has been one of the NFL’s elite tight ends through his first 6 seasons and is in the third year of a four-year, $56 million contract extension he signed in March 2021.
Through four games, Andrews has 6 receptions for 65 yards and in Week 4 dropped his only target — a wide-open pass from Lamar Jackson in a 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Five years ago today, the Ravens took Mark Andrews with the 86th overall selection in the 2018 NFL draft
He’s gone on to become one of the best tight ends in the league, catching 336 passes for 4,313 yards and 34 touchdowns in his five seasons
Calculating Cost of Bringing Andrews to Denver
Andrews would likely be Denver’s second-best offensive weapon behind wide receiver Courtland Sutton from Day 1.
The cost in personnel could theoretically be either Dulcich or Trautman along with a 2025 draft pick. The Broncos only have 6 picks in the 2025 NFL draft and might be loathe to part with any of them, but Andrew would be worth giving up a mid-to-late round pick for.
The more precarious part of dealing for Andrews would be his salary. While the Broncos could get out of paying quite a bit by waiting until closer to the trade deadline to make a deal, Andrews is due to make $11 million in 2025.
Because the Broncos are facing an NFL-record dead cap hit of $49.6. million next year, that’s something to consider.
