3 Broncos Free Agents Who Could Still Re-Sign With Denver

As the Denver Broncos prepared for free agency, with 21 players set to hit the open market, they decided to bring back 16 of them back, along with cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian, who they placed a second-round tender on as a restricted free agent.

With two of the Broncos' free agents signing elsewhere, defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers and safety P.J. Locke, there are only three remaining players left they could re-sign.

What the Broncos have done in retaining their own free agents is unheard of. Teams never keep that many of their own guys and instead look to outside signings, cheap veterans, and rookies to fill the bottom of the roster. With a 90-man offseason roster, the Broncos sit around 75 players under contract.

The signings the Broncos have done, except for tight end Adam Trautman, running back J.K. Dobbins, and linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, don’t guarantee them a spot on the 53-man roster. Most of these low-level re-signings could still be cut later in the offseason, and clearly, the Broncos prioritized cheap familiarity over cheap newcomers.

Denver's only remaining free agents unsigned are interior offensive lineman Sam Mustipher, tight end Marcedes Lewis, and fullback Michael Burton. All three are veterans, with Burton having been the guy at fullback for Denver for in 2023 and 2025, before an injury sidelined him last season.

Burton's Outlook

With fullback Adam Prentice as one of those cheaper re-signings, Denver probably won’t invest in bringing Burton back. However, Prentice was brought in as the guy after Burton got hurt, so maybe Denver wants to let a healthy Burton compete with Prentice and roll with the better player. Of the three players left available to re-sign, Burton seems the most likely, but with a probability of under 10%.

Lewis's Outlook

As for Lewis, he is over 40 and still shows signs of wanting to play. Denver brought him in as a blocking tight end during the season when injuries hit the tight end room.

The Broncos kept Lewis around for the rest of the season, with him playing 81 snaps on offense across five different games between the roster and practice squad. At his age, he will likely be left on the market into the season.

Mustipher's Outlook

Another player signed because of injuries was Mustipher, whom Denver brought in when Luke Wattenberg went down in December. Mustipher took the field in both the season finale and the divisional playoff game, playing 20 snaps between the two.

With Alex Forsyth still under contract and Wattenberg extended, Denver doesn’t seem to need another veteran backup center. Like Lewis, Mustipher could find himself waiting a while before being signed.

That's it. They're the only Broncos free agents whom the team hasn't brought back, and two of them were depth guys who saw the field, while the third was a starter who got hurt. They've all already been effectively replaced, making it unlikely they will be back in Denver anytime soon.

The Takeaway

What the Broncos have done is unprecedented, and it's even more so as teams look to free agency for instant improvement from veterans. Free agency isn’t over, and there are still names left, but Denver’s keeping its guys as they have is a questionable decision at best. It may work, but there's a reason teams don’t run it back to this extent.

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