NFL Free Agency Predictions: Denver Broncos Sign Travis Etienne, More Guesses

NFL Free Agency kicks off in six days, on May 11, but the legal tampering period begins on Tuesday, May 9.

In preparation for all the fun, here are 5 NFL Free Agency predictions across the league.

Denver Broncos Will Sign Travis Etienne

It's only been six weeks since the Broncos lost the AFC Championship Game, but it's already been an exciting offseason because they finally have money to play with.

Russell Wilson is off the books.

And with their current $25.2M in salary cap, the first player the Denver Broncos will sign is Travis Etienne.

I've written extensively the last few weeks about all the different running back free agents. First, I ranked Rachaad White as the top Broncos free agent pick, with Breece Hall second—before Hall was franchise tagged by the Jets—and Tyler Allgeier third.

Then, I said the Broncos should trade for David Montgomery, and only a few hours after it published, Montgomery was traded. Crazily, the Broncos were in the mix. They went for him but the Texans' price was higher than what Denver wanted to pay.

Finally, I said the Broncos should go sign Kenneth Walker when he wasn't franchise tagged on Tuesday.

But after looking at everything and reading all the tea leaves, I think the Broncos will end up signing Etienne, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

That's because the Chiefs are going to sign Kenny Walker.

It's important because Kansas City has been the team most-mentioned when it comes to Etienne this offseason. But now that Walker is available, and not re-signing with Seattle, they're going to sign the former Super Bowl MVP as their new RB.

That will leave Etienne for the Broncos.

Etienne started his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, then fell off in 2024. It was his worst season as a professional, with only 558 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

But he had a huge resurgence last season in what was arguably his best year ever. Etienne went over the 1,000-yard mark again, on a 4.3-yard per carry average. He ran in 7 touchdowns, but also caught 6 more scores for the Jags.

Etienne was an absolute beast.

He uses his great speed on the outside to break off explosive runs and a majority of his touchdowns, but also ran for 46.7% of his yards between the tackles. That's huge because he's going to be the power back with RJ Harvey being more the speed guy.

Some Broncos fans may say that Etienne and harvey are too alike—they both run outside better than inside, and both are great receivers—but those are enormous upsides in Sean Payton's offense. Ben Allbright agrees with me he'd be a great fit.

Payton loves a running back that can catch the ball. And so does Bo Nix.

He hit Harvey for six receiving touchdowns in 2025, including the pivotal game-winning touchdown over the Chiefs on Christmas night.

Merry Nixmas, you filthy animals.

One more positive for Etienne: he's only missed two games in four years of play. J.K. Dobbins was great for the Broncos last year, but they knew going into the year by signing him that he was injury-prone. And he missed nearly half the season.

Jonathan Jones of CBS says the Broncos will make a slash signing this week, and named Etienne and Walker being among the game breaking guys Denver could get.

NFL Free Agency Predictions

Chiefs will sign Kenneth Walker

Walker is a weapon. Andy Reid loves weapons. The Chiefs just traded away Trent McDuffie and freed up $14M in cap space, which is right around what Walker will cost. It's all adding up for him to be in K.C. this year.

Patriots will sign Alec Pierce

New England just cut Stefon Diggs, and they need a new wide receiver. No one loves to throw it deep more than Drake "Drake Maye" Maye, and no one loves to catch the deep ball more than Pierce. It's a match made in Foxborough.

Chargers will sign Mike Evans

Los Angeles brought back Keenan Allen with success last year. Sure, he had a connection to the team, but he was also 33. Mike Evans will also be 33 this year, and will be an upgrade on Allen. They are very receiver-needy in El-Eh.

Vikings will sign Kyler Murray

Kyler Murray got dumped by the Cardinals, somewhat surprisingly. He was a Vikings fan as a kid, and Minny needs a new gunslinger. Enter Murray.

Around the AFC West: Free Agency Rumors at NFL Combine

Looking around the AFC West and what each team’s GMs and coaches are saying about free agency starting soon. The Broncos have “musts” at running back, linebacker.

Broncos BlitzRich Kurtzman

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.

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