Report: Broncos Re-Sign FB/TE Andrew Beck to One-Year Deal
The Denver Broncos are on the doorstep of the new league year, which officially opens on Wednesday, March 16. Monday will see the NFL's 'legal tampering' window open, which allows teams to negotiate with prospective free-agent targets and agree to a deal in principle before officially putting pen to paper on the 16th.
With a grip of their own players set to hit the open market, the Broncos re-signed fullback/tight end Andrew Beck to a one-year deal on Sunday, per 9NEWS' Mike Klis.
"FB Andrew Beck was to be RFA. Rather than an original round tender of $2.54M, Broncos and Beck worked a 1-year deal," Klis tweeted.
With new head coach Nathaniel Hackett's scheme coming in, the Broncos needed a solid blocking tight end and a fullback who can lead block from time to time. Mike Shanahan's Broncos circa 1995-2008 were the progenitors of the wide zone rushing attack that Hackett will deploy, which prizes blocking tight ends and occasionally, the fullback.
Obviously, the Broncos have a role carved out for Beck.
"I sure hope you're right. I've enjoyed my conversations with all the coaches," Beck told Klis.
Winner of the NFL's 2021 Salute to Service Award, Beck is back in the fold and hopes to see a snap count more reflective of his 2019 body of work than his two-year stretch in the Pat Shurmur offense. As Klis also noted on Twitter, Beck earned 230 offensive snaps in 2019 (23%) under then-offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, a disciple of the Shanahan West Coast offense variant that will soon predominate the Mile High grid-iron once again.
Entering his fourth NFL season, the soon-to-be 26-year-old Beck returns to the Broncos in what is likely to be an expanded role, relative to what he gleaned from the Vic Fangio/Pat Shurmur regime. Beck originally joined the Broncos as a waiver claim from New England in September of 2019.
He played his college ball at Texas and went undrafted that same year. Beck caught on in Denver, however, and while few expect him to be a focal point in Hackett's offense, he'll have a role as a complement to the Broncos' new No. 1 tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, the latter of whom projects as a key target to the team's new franchise quarterback Russell Wilson after Noah Fant was dealt to the Seattle Seahawks.
Beck has nine career receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown but hasn't caught a pass since Scangarello was calling the plays in 2019.
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