Last year, we felt the Denver Broncos were “ahead of schedule”. Sean Payton was just getting things built, and they were starting a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix. And they surprised us a bit by taking that team to the playoffs and showing the world that they were here early. It was a nice little bonus.

Now, in year three, those feelings are gone. No more playing with house money. It’s time to compete for the division and a championship every year. And that starts with this offseason. So let’s look at the weapons for the Broncos in terms of the depth chart, the contracts, and the cap space to figure out how they might improve. If there is a fantasy football spin for any particular player, we’ll mention that as well - why not? 

Become a Fantasy Alarm Member today to access our full Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings along with our buy, hold, or sell recommendations!

*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*
 

 

QB

Bo Nix

Jarrett Stidham

Sam Ehlinger

 

RB

J.K. Dobbins

RJ Harvey

Jaleel McLaughlin

Tyler Badie

WR

Courtland Sutton

Marvin Mims

  

WR

Pat Bryant

Lil'Jordan Humphrey

  

WR

Troy Franklin

   

TE

Adam Trautman

Evan Engram

Nate Adkins

Lucas Krull


 

Denver Broncos Depth Chart 2026 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

  • KEY
  • White = free agent
  • Green = role is safe
  • Yellow =  role in flux
  • Orange = likely a depth piece
  • Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Denver Broncos Free Agency 2026

  • CURRENT PROJECTED TOP 51 2026 SALARIES: $281M
  • CURRENT ESTIMATED 2026 TEAM CAP SPACE: $21M

Free Agent Types

Unrestricted free agent: Any player with four or more accrued seasons whose contract has expired. They are free to negotiate with any team.

Restricted free agent: A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. The CBA allowed for NFL teams to tender these players to one-year qualifying offers to retain them. Another team can sign them but would need to provide the tendering team with compensation. In layman’s terms, if a new team signs a player, the current team can match it or they receive the corresponding pick from the new team. These are the projected RFA tender levels per OverTheCap.com:

  • 1st Round - $7,893,000
  • 2nd Round - $5,658,000
  • Right of First Refusal - $3,453,000

Exclusive rights free agent: Any player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum, the player cannot negotiate with other teams. If the team wants the player back, these contracts are a no-brainer, as the player either needs to play on the contract or sit out. 
 

 

 

Broncos Quarterback Depth Chart

Bo Nix

Bo Nix is the man in Denver. That was clear during his rookie season when they made the playoffs. He’s not eligible for an extension until next season, but they probably will need to start planning for that. He should get a pretty penny.

As for fantasy football, I’m a little torn on Nix. He’s clearly a willing runner. We usually look for five carries a game (85 in a season), and he’s hit 92 and 83 in his first two years. But, he doesn’t quite have the speed/athleticism of the high-end guys, and some of them are clearing 100+ carries a year. He actually did have a similar number of designed runs to someone like Drake Maye, but Nix had 38 scrambles to 74 for Maye. For me, if someone in your league does value him in that Jayden Daniels/Drake Maye tier, I’d consider cashing out on Nix. I consider him more of a “mobile QB” than a true rushing quarterback. 

Jarrett Stidham

It’s really not fair to have your backup quarterback play his first game of the season in the AFC Championship. How many teams actually have that kind of backup available? There probably will be calls for a new backup QB given the discourse at the time, but the reality is that Stidham is a fine backup, and the situation was pretty much worst-case scenario. Still, there could be a shakeup here after how things went down, as the NFL is a reactionary league. If they cut him, they save $4.5M with $3.5M in dead cap, but a trade would save $6.5M with only $1.5M in dead cap. 

Sam Ehlinger

Sam Ehlinger started his career with the Colts but found his way to the Broncos practice squad. The Colts actually reached out to bring him back, but Ehlinger turned down the offer to remain in Denver. He enters free agency, and maybe they bring him back as QB3 based on his loyalty. 

  • Reserves/Futures: N/A

BRONCOS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: There is a way that moving on from Jarrett Stidham works. It’s fairly common knowledge that Stidham is incredibly smart and could be on his path to being a coach himself one day, like Kevin O’Connell or Davis Webb. If a team with a young QB wants his services, a trade could make sense.

From there, the Broncos could either roll with Ehlinger or add a QB who is less of a “player-coach” and more of someone who is ready to play if needed. Here are some options that come to mind. 

Broncos Running Back Depth Chart

J.K. Dobbins

J.K. Dobbins was the starting running back for the Broncos - there’s no doubt about that. He led the team in snaps in every game he played before he got hurt. And there were some reports that he got close to returning at the end of the year, but couldn’t quite make it back, so we do expect him to be healthy for 2026. The question is how long that can last, as he’s gotten hurt every year of his career so far. And some of those injuries have been serious. That could make the Broncos and other teams less likely to want to invest in Dobbins in free agency. 

As for fantasy football, I’m personally more likely to roster guys like this in dynasty leagues when I’m playing to win now. When you are competing, you are loading up with as many viable players as possible and pushing the chips. That naturally makes Dynasty a more top-heavy game. So I’m less concerned about guys missing time, as when they are healthy, we start them and, when they are not, we just start another good player from our team. Losing Dobbins won’t sink your team, but he could help as he’s run for 4.6 and 5.0 yards per carry the last two years. 

RJ Harvey

This offseason is absolutely crucial for RJ Harvey. Older prospects like Harvey don’t have the benefit of “wait and see” - especially at the running back position. If they bring in a major piece this offseason, as is rumored, it would badly hurt the long-term value of Harvey. If they don’t, the upside will once again be big.

That has me in a position where I’m holding where I have him, but I’m not buying where I don’t - at least not until May. We saw some flashes from him that were promising, and the Broncos have a great offensive line. But we should all be nervous about the rumors that we’ll discuss below in the Running Back Free Agency Takes section. 

Jahleel McLaughlin

There was some hope for McLaughlin in dynasty circles. But he was surpassed pretty quickly by rookie RJ Harvey and failed to carve out a meaningful role. He’s an unrestricted free agent, and it would probably be in his best interest to try catching on somewhere else. 

Tyler Badie

They like Tyler Badie. Not only can he mix in a little on pass downs, but he also played 297 special teams snaps across four different units, the fifth most of any player on the team. As an exclusive rights free agent here, they can bring him back for the veteran minimum - and I expect them to do that. 

BRONCOS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: The Broncos running back rumors are SWIRLING. Benjamin Albright even suggests that the compensation for David Montgomery changed because the Broncos made a last-ditch effort to steal the deal. Whether that’s true or not, there is a lot of steam suggesting the Broncos could be major players in the free agent RB market.

RJ Harvey skews pass-catching, so our guess would be either a top-three down back or someone that skews early downs if they go there. And, with their offensive line, that would be a nice landing spot. Here are the top names out there. 

 

 

 

Broncos Wide Receiver Depth Chart

Courtland Sutton

They gave Courtland Sutton a big extension to be their big split end on the outside. He can line up all over, but he is one of the rare guys who can tether his foot to the line and beat the jam. So they have the most important wide receiver role locked up. Even if they add pieces, I’m not sure they push Sutton out of position to be a top two option on the team. 

Pat Bryant

For two years under Sean Payton, the Broncos have refused to lock in a WR2. It’s been a ton of rotation. But Pat Bryant started to get close. His run blocking ability was slowly putting him ahead of Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims, and then he started catching on in the pass-game as well. He finally hit a 70% snap share in Week 13, and the boom - he gets hurt. He’s the favorite in my eyes among the incumbent players.

Troy Franklin

For Sean Payton, you need to do more than just catch passes to be an every-down player. And though Franklin made some big plays at times, he slowly fell out of favor along the way because his run blocking is pretty poor. It doesn’t help that he also made some pretty bad drops. I think Franklin ends up more of a field stretcher, and if you can sell him in your dynasty leagues before folks catch on, I would do so. 

Marvin Mims

Marvin Mims has largely been a guy propped up by screen passes. In fact, in 2024, he caught 70% of his passes behind the line of scrimmage. There were hopes that he could take a step forward in 2025, but he really didn’t crack 50% of the snaps in games until both Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant were banged up. And, even then, he maxed out at 66%. Another guy that could have some name value to throw into a deal if you can. He’ll be on the team in 2026 as he returns both kicks and punts, but I don’t like his odds of the year four breakout.

Lil'Jordan Humphrey

Humphrey is a favorite of Sean Payton from New Orleans, and that’s largely because of, you guessed it, run blocking. The name is misleading as “Lil” Jordan is actually 6’4”, 225. He’s an unrestricted free agent but may be back for depth.

BRONCOS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: Courtland Sutton is locked in. Pat Bryant is my favorite to be the WR2 if they don’t make a move. But they could also try adding more of a slot/flanker to the mix. Right now, they have more big outside guys or field stretchers. If they wanted to go that way, here are some names that might make sense - starting with the top one out there coming off back-to-back 140+ target seasons, Wan’Dale Robinson. 

 

 

 

Broncos Tight End Depth Chart

Adam Trautman

It pains me to list Adam Trautman atop the depth chart here as an Evan Engram fan. But that’s how it panned out. The inline blocker Trautman played more snaps than Engram. And that’s likely because of our old pal run blocking. Sean Payton has a type. Trautman is an unrestricted free agent here and could be back, but he doesn’t matter much for fantasy football. 

Evan Engram

After trying out guys like Greg Dulcich and Lucas Krull, Evan Engram as the “Joker” for Sean Payton seemed like a match made in heaven. But it wasn’t as Engram could not manage to carve out anywhere near a full-time role. He actually only cracked 50% of the snaps in one game. Not great, Bob.

Releasing Engram hurts as he would have $10.3M in dead ap and only $3.8M in savings. As a post June-1 designation, you can spread that out over two years and save $6.5. If anyone out there wanted Engram, I bet the Broncos would trade him easily, as, with that, they could save $8.8M with $5.3M in dead cap. Much more reasonable. 

Nate Adkins

Nate Adkins is basically your backup inline blocker to Adam Trautman. I don’t see him stepping into that role if Trautman walks, and I also don’t see the Broncos picking up his RFA tender. So he’s a free agent. 

Lucas Krull

Lucas Krull was with Sean Payton in New Orleans and came over to the Broncos in 2023. He’s been bouncing around from the practice squad to the starting roster from time to time. He’s not a roster lock, but he does at least skew pass catching if you are looking for real deep league stashes. He’s an unrestricted free agent.

BRONCOS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: If Evan Engram isn’t a good “joker” fit, then I’m not quite sure who is. Kyle Pitts got tagged, and Travis Kelce is either going back to the Chiefs or retiring. If they do want to try that again, Chig Okonkwo has some speed, and Isaiah Likely is a converted basketball player, though neither are great blockers. 

I’ll list the Joker options below. But I’ll also share some “two-way” guys as well if they want an inline guy like Adam Trautman, who is simply a better pass catcher. That could be a new direction for the Broncos, too.

Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings

Become a Fantasy Alarm Member today to access our full Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings along with our buy, hold, or sell recommendations!