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PFF Gives Broncos a Rare 'Excellent' Grade for 2021 Free Agency Haul

George Paton just received his grade from one of the most respected analytics sites out there and the Broncos are thrilled.

Often a practice in vanity, it's nevertheless intriguing to see what grade the Denver Broncos garner from respected NFL publications around the web. 

While perhaps not nearly as pointless as NFL draft grades, given that draft picks should be viewed at minimum through the scope of their entire rookie contracts, how a team decides to spend (or perhaps more importantly not spend) their limited salary-cap space, and how much value a team finds each offseason, free agency grades can offer insight.

Some highly-regarded signings will fall flat while others that were chastised will turn out to be the difference in a team making or missing the playoffs. Some of the smaller moves may have a vast, positive impact on a team, like perhaps the Broncos' sleeper acquisition at running back Mike Boone. But we won’t know until we can view the signings in retrospect down the road.

However, the grades are fun to read and even more rewarding when they indicate that the Broncos did good work in free agency. Such is the case for Broncos' GM George Paton. 

Running a team operating with salary-cap space to spare and using it to actually make meaningful moves this offseason, Paton chose to retain his own guys (mostly) and solidified Denver's biggest question mark heading into the offseason. Pro Football Focus, a site as skeptical of Drew Lock as any outo there, couldn’t even speak ill of how the Broncos attacked free agency, giving Paton a rare excellent grade for his offseason maneuvers to date, while calling the Kyle Fuller signing his best move.

DENVER BRONCOS: Excellent

Best signing: CB Kyler Fuller

The Denver Broncos haven’t made many moves this offseason, but they've been smart and targeted, regardless. Denver prioritized retaining key players on defense initially, placing the franchise tag on safety Justin Simmons before inking him to a new long-term contract that makes him the game’s best-paid safety. They also re-signed Shelby Harris, one of the NFL’s most underrated interior defenders. Harris is coming off the best season of his PFF career in terms of pass-rushing, putting up an 83.5 mark in that facet.

On the open market, the Broncos signed cornerback Ronald Darby to a modest contract and then reportedly took all of 34 minutes to reunite Kyle Fuller with his former coach Vic Fangio once the Chicago Bears released him for cap savings.

Fuller’s best season came in Chicago under Fangio in 2018, a season in which he racked up 20 combined interceptions and pass breakups and allowed a sub-70.0 passer rating when targeted. With A.J. Bouye‘s release, that pair completely remakes the cornerback group in the space of a few days of business.

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The Broncos still have a number of questions but for the most part, they're tertiary concerns. Who will be the team’s inline tight end? Can Boone be the second running back? Can linebackers Josey Jewell and Alexander Johnson play to a high enough level to take advantage of a great Denver defense? 

What about depth in the secondary and defensive front? Will Ja’Wuan James stay healthy? And, what is going to happen with the quarterback position?

Time will tell but given the parameters of the offseason to date, Paton is knocking it out of the park on paper. How it plays out in practical application we won't know for some time yet, but making smart moves to fill roster holes with scheme fits, bringing back culture leaders in the locker room, and not jeopardizing the team’s long-term financial flexibility at the same time? 

Maybe free agency grades are meaningless, but Paton is doing a heck of a job his first year as a GM and it doesn’t take a grade to see that.


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