Why the Denver Broncos Didn't Sign Any New Free Agents

NFL Free Agency is off and running, but the Broncos are still in the gates.

Maybe they didn't hear the gun.

It's left everyone wondering why the Denver Broncos didn't sign any free agents besides their in-house guys.

Why Didn't the Denver Broncos Sign Any Free Agents?

After watching the NFL free agent frenzy on Monday, what we can deduce is the Broncos put all their eggs in one basket and failed to get their guy. Denver wanted running back Travis Etienne, but the New Orleans Saints signed him.

That left the Broncos to fall back on J.K. Dobbins as the answer at running back.

And to keep Alex Singleton at linebacker. Re-signing Singleton may have been the plan all along. But it was clear as day Denver thought they needed to upgrade at running back.

We heard about it all offseason, that the Broncos were possible candidates to sign Kenneth Walker, Breece Hall, and Etienne.

Then, they tried to trade for David Montgomery. He would've been a fantastic addition to the running back room; the knuckles to RJ Harvey's sonic speed.

Instead, the Houston Texans got "DMo" for a 4th, a 7th, and a backup offensive lineman. Ben Allbright said the Broncos wanted him but not at that price, which amounted to a 3rd-round pick.

But, likely part of the reason why the Broncos didn't go all-in on Montgomery was 1. George Paton loves his draft picks and doesn't like to trade them away, and 2. Free Agency hadn't begun yet.

There were a ton of good free agent running backs available, even after Hall was franchise tagged by the Jets.

Monday Timeline

As the legal tampering period started on Monday, Broncos Country was hyped. They expected the Broncos to make a splash signing, as CBS' Jonathan Jones said, and multiple others agreed Denver liked both Walker and Etienne.

Monday, March 9, 10:23 a.m. MT

The Chiefs kicked the free agency period off with a bang; they landed the Super Bowl MVP.

Kansas City signing Walker left Etienne as the target for Denver.

And make no mistake about it, the Broncos were in on Etienne.

So were the Saints, the Vikings, and the Commanders.

As the four teams bid on Etienne, Tyler Allgeier was signed by the Cardinals. The Broncos focused all their efforts on Etienne, but ultimately lost out to his home state Saints.

Monday, March 9, 11:58 a.m. MT

New Orleans signed Etienne to a 4-year, $52M deal, or an average of $13M per year.

The Broncos put all their eggs in one basket, like a kid on Easter, but dropped the basket. They fumbled the bag, as the kids say. It's why the Denver Broncos didn't sign anyone in the free agency frenzy on Monday.

Monday, March 9, 1:26 p.m. MT

They had to go with their Plan B—or is that Plan C, if you count "DMo"?— At running back with the oft-injured J.K. Dobbins.

Dobbins is a good back and a good dude, but he’s been injured every year of his career. Him going down in Week 10 last year was a huge blow to the offense.

It's no coincidence that the Broncos signed Dobbins an hour and a half after Etienne was inked by the Saints.

Dobbins got $20M for 2 years, or an average of $10M a year. That sounds like close to what Etienne was paid, but it's actually a cap number of $6M for 2026, which is less than half of $13M.

And following that same thinking; Denver held off on re-signing Singleton until the Dobbins deal (3:19 p.m.).

Everything hinged on the Broncos signing Travis Etienne. And when they didn't, they had to fall back on Dobbins. And possibly to a lesser extent, on Singleton.

Because just like they couldn't work on other running backs as they were so focused on Etienne, they couldn't work on a deal with other linebackers either.

Again, some say the plan all along was to re-sign Justin Strnad and Singleton, like Denver did. But it was also a clear position where the Broncos could've upgraded.

Devon Lloyd was one guy Broncos fans wanted, and another was Quay Walker. They got $13.5M and $15M per year, respectively.

Singleton came in at about half that, 2-years for $15.5M.

Broncos didn't have that much money to play with

The second reason why the Broncos didn't sign any free agents—outside of the team—was because they didn't have that much money to play with.

When free agency kicked off, they had $24.5M.

Strnad's deal was 3 years for $18M. Alex Palczewski is a $3.25M hit. Adam Trautman was 3 years for $17M. Sam Ehlinger is another $2M cap hit, and so on. For many details, the Denver Broncos Free Agency tracker can be found here.

Dobbins eats up $6M, and it’s $5.9M for Singleton.

Then, they re-signed Lance Krull to a 1-year deal on Wednesday. And then DT Matt Henningsen, too. And FB Adam Prentice.

Now, Denver has about $12-13M left to play with, and Over the Cap says Denver needs $12M to sign their rookies after the NFL Draft this year.

The Broncos can still restructure some contracts, and may. But they are unlikely to be any splash signings this year.

Denver really liked their guys

The final reason why the Broncos didn't sign any free agents is they really liked their in-house guys.

That was specifically true when picking to bring back Singleton and then cutting Dre Greenlaw.

Singleton and Strnad are great fits in the Broncos system. Earlier in the offseason, Greenlaw talked about the defense and not understanding the play calls when he first arrived in Denver. Plus, he was suspended for contacting a referee after the win over the Giants.

That same sentiment of liking who they had in-house can be seen on both sides of the ball. For instance, the entire 2025 tight end room besides Marcedes Lewis is back for Denver in 2026, as the Broncos re-signed three guys.

The downside of not signing new players outside the organization is there's no new blood. No new juice from anyone.

The upside is the players Denver re-signed already know the system, they know the playbook, they know the coaches, and their teammates too.

Last year, the Broncos brought in a ton of free agents.

Talanoa Hufanga was the best of the bunch, and Dobbins was second-best. Greenlaw and Evan Engram were disappointments. Trent Sherfield was nada, while Adam Prentice was solid all around.

After making the AFC Championship Game and losing, partly because they didn't have a consistent run game, the Broncos didn't sign anyone outside the organization. At least, not through the first three days of free agency.

Broncos fans are upset across the interwebs. From Bluesky, the official app of sports, to Reddit, and probably on Xer or whatever it's called, too.

Denver won 12 games by one score or less last year. They had the second-easiest schedule. And they had glaring weaknesses at running back when Dobbins went down as well as at receiver and inside linebacker.

And yet, George Paton and Sean Payton have basically made it a bit at this point.

Oops! All Broncos.

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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.