Barring an unexpected trade, this year’s Broncos are on track for an unusual setup in which all five starting offensive linemen are tied to eight-figure-per-year contracts. The team ensured this by retaining contract-year left guard Ben Powers after extending center Luke Wattenberg.
The Russell Wilson contract is off the Broncos’ payroll (after topping the past two Denver cap sheets), and Bo Nix cannot be extended until 2027. This sweet spot of sorts will help the team go with five O-linemen on contracts worth at least $12MM per year. That setup is likely to be a one-off, however, and another offseason move looks to have telegraphed the franchise’s 2027 plans.
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Denver re-signed Alex Palczewski to a two-year, $9.5MM contract before free agency. The team engaged in talks with the RFA-to-be for around a week before that deal was finalized in early March, the Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel notes. The Broncos proceeded to re-sign a number of free agents in their retention-heavy (feat. Jaylen Waddle) offseason, but Palczewski’s deal being finalized before free agency was notable regarding future plans.
Essentially, the former UDFA looks like a starter-in-waiting. Three of the Broncos’ five O-line starters — Powers, Garett Bolles, Mike McGlinchey — will be 30 or older by season’s end (Bolles is 35, McGlinchey turns 32 in August, Powers turns 30 in October). The team is understandably wary of seeing the group’s age become a concern, Gabriel adds, pointing to Palczewski (27 in August) having a shot to start next year.
The most logical Palczewski lineup path would come via a Powers free agency exit and Palczewski — who started 10 games at LG during the starter’s IR stay last season — taking over. The team guaranteed $1.5MM of his $4.49MM 2027 base salary. Palczewski also subbed in for McGlinchey at right tackle during the starter’s IR stint in 2024. McGlinchey is owed a nonguaranteed $16.99MM in 2027, the final year of his contract.
Pro Football Focus ranked Palczewski, who spent his 2023 rookie year on IR, outside the top 60 among guard regulars last year. But ESPN’s run block win rate metric slotted him ninth among all interior O-linemen, representing a notable evaluation chasm. The Broncos figure to have him slotted as the first option off the bench in the event of an injury, and the team’s two-year deal allows for more developmental time ahead of a future in which either Powers or McGlinchey is off the 2027 roster (as Nix moves toward an extension).
Similar succession plans have formed on Denver’s defense. Jahdae Barron, a 2025 first-round pick, is set to play more outside cornerback in the leadup to his second season. That could be aimed at giving him a runway to replace Riley Moss in the event the latter leaves as a 2027 UFA. With the team negotiating an extension with slot CB Ja’Quan McMillian, it would surprise if Moss was re-signed by a team rostering a pricey Patrick Surtain deal. The team also executed a starter-in-waiting strategy at linebacker, though the situation differs a bit.
Denver added Dre Greenlaw to start alongside Alex Singleton last year but saw the former Super Bowl starter’s injury trouble persist, leading to a release. The Broncos cut Greenlaw (via a post-June 1 designation) before a $2MM guarantee vested in March.
Greenlaw already saw Justin Strnad‘s emergence keep him from full-time status, and the Broncos gave the latter a substantial raise on a three-year, $18MM pact. Strnad played for less than $3MM in 2025 but fared well by registering 4.5 sacks as an off-ball ‘backer while adding an interception and five tackles for loss.
Fourth-year DC Vance Joseph said (via the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson) Strnad’s improved play led the Broncos to cut ties with Greenlaw, who was on a three-year, $31MM deal that was essentially a pay-as-you-go pact. Greenlaw has since rejoined the 49ers — on a one-year, $6MM accord — and Strnad is on track to team with Singleton as Denver’s ILB starters this season. The Broncos did not draft a linebacker until Round 7, and Jonah Elliss — rumored to be set for an extended ILB look — is staying on the edge. Strnad will have a clear route to a full-time role in his age-30 season.
Everytime I see something about Vance Joseph, I think of the MNF “He’s having the time of his life!”