Broncos Have 'Good' Plan to Replace DE John Franklin-Myers

Just as the Denver Broncos are excited over Bo Nix's recovery progress, so too are they optimistic about the prospect of replacing now-former starting defensive end John Franklin-Myers, who departed to the Tennessee Titans this offseason.

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Even if it takes a village.

“Just going into it, we feel pretty good," general manager George Paton said Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. "We have [DL] Sai’vion [Jones], and we have our four guys coming back. Our starters, and then ‘Enny’ (DL Eyioma Uwazurike) really came on, and then Sai’vion and [DL] Jordan Jackson. We have pretty good depth, but you are always looking for big guys on the offensive and defensive lines.”

The move to succeed Franklin-Myers — who totaled 14.5 sacks during his two seasons in Denver — was initially set into motion during the 2025 NFL Draft, when they used a third-round pick on defensive lineman Sai'vion Jones. Jones played only 33 defensive snaps, logging a fumble recovery.

Since that point, the Broncos made little-to-no effort in retaining Franklin-Myers, instead allowing him to sign a three-year, $63 million contract at the onset of free agency earlier this month.

Nov 6, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos defensive end John Franklin-Myers (98) reacts against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

JFM and the Comp-Pick Mystery: Explained

Save for the acquisitions of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and special-teamer Tycen Anderson, the Broncos were remarkably quiet amid the league's signing period. Rather than dabble out-of-house, they purposely chose to retain more than a dozen of their own free agents, including running back J.K. Dobbins, tight end Adam Trautman, and linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad.

Their inactivity is a mystery no longer, as Paton confirmed that future compensatory picks — potentially even a 2027 third-rounder for losing Franklin-Myers — factored into their sleepy approach.

“It does. It doesn’t dictate kind of what we’re doing, but we obviously know it’s there," he told reporters. "We have two compensatory picks this year. Mr. Irrelevant… and we have Mr. Irrelevant runner up. So it’s going to be cool… Then next year, we should get the [fourth round pick] and then maybe a seven. That’s what you want to get to. It took us a while to get here, where we can get compensatory picks. You see other teams do it, and I like that we’re doing it.”

The Broncos currently hold seven total selections for next month's Draft: a second-round choice, two fourth-round picks, a fifth-rounder, and three seventh-rounders — the latter two of which are compensatory.

“It’s great," Paton said. "You may not be able to get a guy… The price gets higher sometimes than the picks in the free agent world. It’s crazy, the chaos. If we’re not going to get a guy… That happened with [OLB] Jonathon Cooper, believe it or not. He was going to go to Jacksonville with [former Jaguars Head Coach] Urban Meyer. Let’s just take him. Let him walk out, and we took him. Those sevens, we got [Saints WR Devaughn] Vele in the seventh, ‘Coop’ in the seventh. There are probably more, but all of those picks are important.”

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