Top Broncos of 2026 | No. 19: Alex Singleton

Alex Singleton has the heart of a warrior. Last season, after a year-long battle to return from a torn ACL, he returned to the starting lineup in Week 1.

Then the rug got pulled right out from under him when Singleton was diagnosed with testicular cancer around the midway point of the season. Despite undergoing a procedure to remove a malignant mass, Singleton only missed one game.

The team captain battled back quickly, once again, to be there for the Broncos. The team rallied around him, and his return to the field gave the Broncos an emotional boost in time for the stretch run.

As we continue counting down the top 25 Broncos of 2026, we arrive at our No. 19 player. Let's break down why Singleton is still one of the Broncos' most important players entering his age-33 season.

Background

Singleton went undrafted out of Montana State in 2015. He played for a few NFL teams, and even had a multi-year sojourn north of the 49th parallel in the Canadian Football League, where he was a two-time All-Star and a Grey Cup Champion (their Super Bowl), before finally catching on with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019.

Singleton battled his way onto the Eagles' roster and, eventually, the starting lineup, through his special teams acumen, and that was a big reason the Broncos signed him as a free agent in 2022. He started out in Denver as a third-phase guy.

In his first year in Denver, Singleton produced a 100-tackle season, starting 12 games. The Broncos rewarded Singleton with a three-year, $18 million extension the following spring. He had become an "understood" starter, playing next to Josey Jewell on defense.

Singleton produced a career-high 177 tackles in 2023, which was actually his fourth straight season over the triple-digit mark, as he totaled 100-plus in each of his final two years in Philly. Although Jewell had departed in free agency, Singleton was the constant at linebacker entering the 2024 season, with Cody Barton joining as a free agent.

In Week 3, Singleton suffered a torn ACL in the Broncos' road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though he finished the game. Talk about tough... He was done for the season, though, which further pushed Barton to the forefront and forced the Broncos to rely on Justin Strnad.

You could argue that, as unfortunate as Singleton's torn ACL was, it came with the silver lining of Strnad finally getting his chance to show the Broncos' brass that he could hang on defense. They re-signed Strnad to a one-year deal the following offseason and let Barton go in free agency.

Singleton returned to the starting lineup last year, and despite his cancer setback, he finished with a team-high 135 tackles. The Broncos had signed Dre Greenlaw ahead of the 2024 season, but injuries and a poor schematic fit led to Strnad seeing the field a lot more than the team planned.

With both Singleton and Strnad hitting free agency this past spring, the Broncos knew what their future at linebacker should look like, and it didn't include Greenlaw. The Broncos released him with a post-June 1 designation in March, and re-signed both Singleton and Strnad to multi-year contracts.

Outlook

Alex Singleton. — Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton (49) directs the play before a snap by New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) in the first half of the AFC Championship Game. | Dustin Bradford / IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

Singleton is probably never going to be the ace coverage linebacker that Broncos Country has long coveted, but he did show improvement in this area down the stretch last season. He's 33 now, but his birthday is in December.

The Broncos aren't all that worried about Father Time quite yet, as it applies to Singleton. They gave him a raise, after all, with $15.5 million over the next two years.

Only the 2026 season is guaranteed, though, so Singleton will have to prove that he can continue producing at a high level well into his 30s. The Broncos have confidence that he can, and that, combined with his intangible impact as a team captain and his community impact as the club's 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year, is why he's still in the Mile High City.

The Takeaway

At some point, age will be a factor for Singleton, as it is with all NFL players. But he honestly didn't show any convincing signs of a drop-off last year, and that was after he'd returned from a torn ACL.

If Singleton can avoid the injury bug in 2026, he provides the Broncos with a high-floor linebacker who has pretty much seen it all at this point in his career. With all the young linebackers on this roster behind him and Strnad, Singleton will be looked to as a mentor to help develop these players as a kind of coach on the field.

Singleton is happy to oblige, just so long as it doesn't get in the way of him flying around the field, sideline to sideline, and getting after the ball carrier. He's a tone-setter, for sure, and with the first-place schedule the Broncos face this season, they're going to need his 'dawg' mentality and leadership.

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