7 Broncos Whose Jobs Could Be On the Line in OTAs

The Denver Broncos kick off OTAs on Tuesday, June 2. Aside from rookie minicamp, May has been a quiet month at Broncos HQ, but things will ramp up a bit when OTAs begin.

The Broncos will hold two voluntary OTA sessions on June 2-4 and June 9-11. From there, mandatory minicamp rolls around June 16-18, and then it's the six-week NFL summer, otherwise known as 'the NFL desert.'

The Broncos have several key position battles taking shape this summer. While OTAs aren't usually mistaken for the high-stakes intensity of training camp, for the guys near the bottom of those respective depth charts, jobs could still be on the line in June.

Let's break it down.

Sam Ehlinger | QB

The Broncos love their quarterback room. That is as true today as it was last August, when the Broncos made the tough decision to waive Ehlinger at the final roster cut-downs.

Ehlinger stuck around on the practice squad, and even rebuffed offers from other teams to join a 53-man roster. The Broncos eventually rewarded him by promoting him to the 53-man roster, and giving him a one-year, $2 million contract this past March.

Unfortunately, that contract is not sizable enough to guarantee Ehlinger a roster spot. With how deep the Broncos are at other positions, they might not be able to afford to carry three quarterbacks out of training camp, which means that Ehlinger needs to start the offseason training program off strong, and create as much value for himself as possible.

The Broncos love Ehlinger. But he is the third quarterback, and football priorities are established through football pragmatism.

Nate Adkins & Lucas Krull | TE

Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull — Denver Broncos tight end Nate Adkins (45) celebrates his touchdown with tight end Lucas Krull (85) in the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Broncos have fielded one of the worst tight end rooms in the NFL in each of the past three seasons. The team took some steps to improve the room this offseason, though it's unclear how soon the additions will move the needle.

The Broncos drafted Justin Joly and Dallen Bentley on Day 3, and while each has a unique tight end skill set, both will be gunning for a spot on the 53-man roster. With Evan Engram and Adam Trautman at the top of the depth chart, the two spots most vulnerable are the No. 3 and No. 4 tight end jobs, which were held down by Adkins and Krull last year.

Starting in OTAs, the two incumbents need to show that they're still a few steps ahead of the rookies if they want to protect their jobs and begin hedging for the final roster decisions at the end of August. With the momentum that 2025 seventh-rounder Caleb Lohner has established this offseason, the pressure on Adkins and Krull is even more intense.

Jordan Jackson | DL

Jackson made the 53-man roster out of camp last year, as the Broncos actually carried seven defensive linemen. With John Franklin-Myers gone, there's an argument that Denver should carry seven trenchmen again, but the roster math isn't favorable to the idea.

Jackson is a young veteran, and while he impressed in his first season with the Broncos back in 2024, he was a bit of a disappointment last season. The Broncos drafted Tyler Onyedim in the third round, and have Eyioma Uwazurike and Sai'vion Jones — last year's third-rounder — waiting to compete for JFM's open starting spot.

Jackson will be competing with 2023 sixth-rounder Matt Henningsen, whom the Broncos re-signed to a one-year deal in March after he suffered an Achilles injury last summer that derailed his contract year. Both Henningsen and Jackson need to start OTAs off strong.

Drew Sanders | OLB

The Broncos are moving Sanders back to outside linebacker. He was drafted to be an inside linebacker, which is the position he held down in his one and only healthy season (rookie year, 2023).

The next offseason, Sanders was moved to outside linebacker, then he got injured and missed most of the season. By the time he returned, the Broncos had moved him back to the inside.

Fast forward to last summer, and Sanders is playing inside linebacker again, but he suffered a foot injury in training camp that ended his season prematurely again. For whatever reason, the Broncos are now moving him back to the edge, and it's a contract year, which means this is his last chance to make a lasting impression in Denver.

With how athletically gifted Sanders is, the biggest hurdle he has is simply staying healthy. If he can keep the injury bug at bay, beginning in OTAs, odds are, the Broncos will give him the full summer to prove he belongs on the 53-man roster.

Sanders was the team's third-round pick in 2023, which is why he's gotten so much benefit of the doubt, but it's put-up-or-shut-up time. And it starts in June.

Kris Abrams-Draine | CB

'KAD,' as he is affectionately known in Broncos Country, isn't exactly in danger of getting cut any time soon. But after an impressive rookie campaign, he wasn't quite as good in 2025, when the Broncos called on him during the three-week stretch they were without an injured Patrick Surtain II.

Meanwhile, the Broncos brought in some very intriguing undrafted rookies, especially Brent Austin and Paul Manning, and they have two bottom-of-the-roster incumbents they really like, in Reese Taylor and Jaden Robinson. KAD was a 2024 fifth-round pick, but he's going to have to sing for his supper this summer and justify his position as the team's fifth cornerback behind Surtain, Riley Moss, Ja'Quan McMillian, and Jahdae Barron.

This time around, the bottom-of-the-roster guys will be pushing hard for KAD's fifth and, likely, final cornerback spot on the 53-man squad.

JL Skinner | S

The Broncos let P.J. Locke walk in free agency, opening the door to a competition for the No. 3 safety job. Skinner will be in competition for it with Devon Key, free-agent newcomer Tycen Anderson, and rookie seventh-rounder Miles Scott.

But this is about more than Skinner earning a bigger role; he faces a fierce battle just to make the roster again. The good news is, he's an accomplished and valuable special teamer, which gives him a leg up to an extent, but so is Anderson, though he's yet to show what he's capable of in Denver.

Skinner is a former sixth-round draft pick, so the Broncos have a vested interest in his success. But they just paid Anderson and drafted Scott, so the pressure is on Skinner to start strong in June.

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