After making the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, the Denver Broncos carried their momentum into 2025 with an encouraging incoming rookie class. Now, with the most optimism they have had since winning Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have an intriguing offseason ahead of Sean Payton’s third season.
Without much cap space, the Broncos made just a couple of notable signings in free agency. Denver added defensive stars Talanoa Hufanga and Dre Greenlaw, but could not afford to make any other meaningful moves until signing veteran running back J.K. Dobbins in early June. Instead, general manager George Paton spent the majority of his focus on the 2025 NFL Draft.
Denver added seven players from the draft, including four on the first two days. Like free agency, the team did not have enough capital to draft as many rookies as others. Regardless, the Broncos’ quality over quantity approach in the 2025 offseason set up several compelling positional battles in the coming months.
Coming off their first double-digit win season since 2015 — their most recent Super Bowl season — expectations for the Broncos are high. Despite rifling through six head coaches and eight starting quarterbacks in the last 10 years, Denver seemingly found its ideal combination moving forward. The hopeful franchise has a lot to work with in the 2025 offseason, giving almost no player on its current roster any guarantees.
WR Marvin Mims Jr.
The Broncos had high hopes for Marvin Mims when they drafted him in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He improved his production in his second season, but it just has not been enough. The team expected Mims to elevate the offense as a complementary deep threat to Courtland Sutton, but his inconsistency has yet to even make him a full-time starter.
After a semi-promising rookie campaign, Mims entered 2024 as one of Denver’s top breakout candidates. However, he failed to make a lasting impact, starting just two games for the Broncos all season – five fewer than he did as a rookie. Mims ended the year as Bo Nix’s second-leading receiver with 503 receiving yards, but played just 27 percent of the offensive snaps on the year.
Of Mims’ 503 receiving yards, 341 of them came in the final five games of the year. His strong finish is an encouraging sign moving forward. One just has to wonder how long the Broncos will keep buying into his potential and overlooking his frustrating inconsistency. With Denver drafting Pat Bryant in the third round, Mims’ window might already be closing.
Bryant’s 6-foot-2, 204-pound frame is already where the Broncos want it to be. Bryant nabbed 10 touchdowns in his final season at Illinois, showing off his lanky physique and contested catch ability. Payton and Nix seem to already like him, with the rookie developing an early rapport with his quarterback.
Even if it is not Bryant, Mims’ job is far from safe. Second-year wideout Troy Franklin, Nix’s college teammate, is reportedly having an excellent offseason and pushing all three starters. Mims is the weakest link of the trio, even with his strong finish to 2024. Unless he takes a leap of his own, either Bryant or Franklin could realistically surpass him on the depth chart.
DL John Franklin-Myers
In his first season with the team, John Franklin-Myers gave the Broncos what they wanted out of him. He recorded a career-high seven sacks, doubling his 2023 output. He was difficult to notice in Denver’s elite defensive front, but Franklin-Myers was quietly one of the most efficient players on the team.
Unfortunately, Franklin-Myers appears to be a victim of the circumstances. There is nothing wrong with him in the starting lineup, but he is forced to compete with third-round pick Saivion Jones. A true defensive end, Jones fits the mold of Vance Joseph’s defense.
Joseph bases his defense on speed on his defensive line, both outside and the interior. Jones, an athletic and powerful defensive end, fits the type of player Joseph wants up front. Jones is also a plus run defender, amassing eight tackles for loss in 2024.
The Broncos’ 3-4 defense supports many edge-rushers, but Franklin-Myers is the most vulnerable. No matter how good an offseason Jones has, he will not supplant Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto or Jonathon Cooper. Bonitto led the way with 13.5 sacks in 2024, while Allen and Cooper perfectly supplemented him with their own career years.
Despite playing for three teams in six years, Franklin-Myers has become a staple of the Broncos’ defense and will not get brushed over by a rookie in the 2025 offseason. But Jones, who was practically hand-picked for Joseph’s defense, will push him all summer.
RB Jaleel McLaughlin
The Broncos entered the 2025 offseason with a clear need to address their backfield. They did so by letting Javonte Williams walk and drafting RJ Harvey in the second round before signing Dobbins one month later. Denver’s run game, which was one of the worst in 2024, should look much different in 2025.
Harvey and Dobbins are the latest additions to a crowded backfield that already included Jaleel McLaughlin, Audric Estime and Tyler Badie. McLaughlin, who had 496 rushing yards in 2024, is the top returning rusher, though Estime and Badie shone brighter in their limited opportunities. None of the Broncos’ returning running backs have impressed anybody, putting all three of them on the roster bubble.
As the oldest of the three, McLaughlin has the shortest leash. Though he is entering just his third season in the league, the Broncos already seem over McLaughlin. Payton expressed frustration with his inefficiency throughout the 2024 season, before making his position with the team crystal clear in the offseason. It seems unlikely Denver lets Estime or Badie go after just one season, putting McLaughlin the furthest on the edge.
Even after signing Dobbins, Harvey still seems to be the Broncos’ preferred starter. At 26, the injury-prone Dobbins would typically be the odd man out, but his late inclusion suggests Denver prefers him to McLaughlin. Estime and Badie are not safe either, but McLaughlin is suddenly forced to pray for a roster spot after Harvey and Dobbins suddenly shucked him down the depth chart.
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