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Broncos S P.J. Locke Expected To Be Healthy By Training Camp Following Spinal Fusion

July 3rd, 2025 at 9:00am CST by Adam La Rose

P.J. Locke played in the Broncos’ wild-card loss but was then unable to participate in team drills during minicamp this spring. The sixth-year safety was sidelined as a result of the spinal surgery he underwent following the 2024 campaign.

As detailed in a video released on Locke’s YouTube channel, an MRI conducted one day after Denver’s season came to an end revealed a spinal fusion would be necessary. The procedure was a success, something which is key for Locke and the Broncos’ secondary. A full recovery in time for training camp is expected, Luca Evans of the Denver Post reports.

“I feel like, man, it’s just been a miracle,” Locke said in the video when reflecting on his recovery process. “I feel like it’s been a breakthrough that I’ve been praying for.”

A former UDFA, Locke did not register any starts across his first three Broncos seasons. He took on a much larger workload in 2023, however, logging a 69% snap share. Last season, the 28-year-old was on the field for over 1,000 defensive snaps.

The Talanoa Hufangaaddition, though, is expected to demote Locke to the backup level. Hufanga and Brandon Jones are positioned to start, but Locke — after two seasons as a defensive regular — represents high-end depth. This safety trio will be counted on to help Denver’s defense repeat last year’s defensive success (No. 3 in points allowed) in 2025.

Locke re-signed with the Broncos last March, and the $3.5MM average annual value of that pact represented a notable raise from his previous deals. The Texas product enters the coming campaign as a pending free agent, though, so his performance will be critical in determining his future. Provided the final stages of his rehab process go as planned, Locke will be available once training camp starts later this month in advance of an important campaign for himself and the Broncos.

Broncos Eyeing Nik Bonitto Extension?

June 26th, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Ben Levine

JUNE 26: While a Bonitto deal could be worked out prior to Week 1, Parker Gabriel of the Denver Post writes a repeat of the Jonathon Cooper situation could be in store. The latter’s four-year, $60MM extension came about in November, a sign of Denver being willing to work out lucrative deals in season. It will be interesting to see how urgently both sides approach an extension in Bonitto’s case.

JUNE 23: The Broncos could be looking to lock up one of their top pass rushers as soon as possible. Nick Kosmider of The Athletic says “it’s fair to assume talks will heat up” between the Broncos and Nik Bonitto as training camp approaches.

Kosmider points directly to last offseason, when the team signed offensive lineman Quinn Meinerz and cornerback Patrick Surtain II just before the start of the regular season. The front office may be following a similar timeline with Bonitto, and Kosmider believes it isn’t in the team’s best interest to drag negotiations into the regular season.

Specifically, the writer is wary of Bonitto quickly compiling some early-season sacks that “could further drive up his asking price.” The former second-round pick is already eyeing an average annual value of at least $20MM, with Kosmider citing Greg Rousseau‘s four-year, $80MM deal and even Brian Burns‘ five-year, $141MM extension.

Bonitto doesn’t have the same starting track record as those two pass rushers, but he is one of the ascending players at his position. After collecting eight sacks in a part-time role in 2024, the linebacker collected 13.5 sacks in his first full season as a starter. That performance earned him second-team All-Pro honors, and Bonitto’s camp will surely be pushing for him to be among the highest-paid players at his position.

Bonitto may also be inclined to see where extensions land for the likes of T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons, and Trey Hendrickson come in, which could slightly delay negotiations between the two sides. Either way, it sounds like the 25-year-old will eventually be signing a lucrative contract, and the Broncos are hoping he’ll put pen to paper as soon as possible.

Russell Wilson Asked Broncos For Fully Guaranteed Deal, Irked NFLPA Boss By Accepting Less

June 24th, 2025 at 9:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFLPA’s grievance aimed at proving NFL owners colluded to prevent other teams from matching the Browns’ fully guaranteed Deshaun Watson extension did not produce a win. A ruling by an independent arbitrator earlier this year did not find sufficient evidence to determine collusion definitively occurred.

But an investigation from veteran reporter Pablo Torre revealed a trove of information regarding some recent quarterback negotiations and the fallout they produced. The Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast’s report addresses the Cardinals’ 2022 Kyler Murray talks and the Ravens’ first wave of Lamar Jackson negotiations. It also delves into the Broncos’ seminal discussions with their then-hopeful long-term QB solution.

While the NFLPA could not ultimately prove collusion, the investigation featured System Arbitrator Christopher Droney concluding (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio), “There is little question that the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans’ contracts at the March 2022 annual owners’ meeting.”

Based on the blowback Jimmy and Dee Haslam received from owners upon agreeing to an ultimately disastrous Watson extension (five years, $230MM fully guaranteed), little doubt existed about owners’ desire to prevent such a deal from happening again. A key chapter in this saga occurred in Denver during Russell Wilson‘s summer 2022 extension talks.

Wilson arrived in Denver as the franchise’s biggest swing during a near-decade-long effort to find a long-term Peyton Manning replacement. The Broncos had tried free agents (Case Keenum), early-round draft choices (Paxton Lynch, Drew Lock) and lower-level trade acquisitions (Joe Flacco, Teddy Bridgewater) but did not see any of them become the primary starter for more than a season. Former seventh-rounder Trevor Siemian made the most starts for the team between its Super Bowl 50 victory and the conclusion of the 2021 season. Enter Wilson, whose trade to Denver emerged hours after Aaron Rodgers — a multiyear Broncos target after the future Hall of Famer had listed the team as an acceptable destination amid a standoff with Packers management — agreed to stay in Green Bay.

Through Torre and Florio’s pursuit, the NFLPA’s collusion case is now public (via Florio). A notable section of the case covers Wilson testimony indicating he requested a fully guaranteed seven-year extension from the Broncos that covered around $50MM per year. That would have covered around $350MM and reminded of a baseball contract. Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, has otherwise repped MLB talent. The camp also drove hard bargains in Seattle during 2015 and 2019 negotiations; the Seahawks not wanting to partake in another round of re-up talks helped influence the trade.

Rodgers had just moved the QB market to $50MM per year via his March 2022 Packers extension, but that complex deal had been, as it turned out, designed to be traded rather than fully bringing the market to the $50MM-AAV place. It took until Jalen Hurts‘ April 2023 extension to move the barrier beyond $50MM on a long-term deal, as the Broncos and Wilson agreed on an accord just south of that place.

Wilson and the Broncos agreed on a five-year, $245MM pact in September 2022. The team’s ownership change, approved in August 2022, delayed an extension from becoming final. Wilson viewed the Broncos as “getting cold feet” regarding a fully guaranteed deal after acquiring him.

Communication uncovered via the investigation indicate Rich Hurtado, the Broncos’ VP of football administration and chief negotiator, emailed GM George Paton a series of talking points ahead of the latter’s meeting with incoming CEO Greg Penner. In the email, Hurtado said he believed the Broncos held leverage in Wilson talks and that he could not foresee another team going to the fully guaranteed well the Browns did with Watson.

Watson held unique leverage due to four finalists (the Browns, Falcons, Panthers and Saints) having agreed on trade terms with the Texans. Cleveland won out, after previously being eliminated, due to the whopping guarantee proposal. Wilson was tied to one team, and the Broncos — via the QB’s Seahawks deal (four years, $140MM) — had their new centerpiece player signed through the 2023 season. The franchise tag, which has been a key tool in efforts to limit players during its three-plus-decade history, also served as a tool the Broncos could have used down the line.

Another notable nugget from the Wilson sector of the report involves a Penner handwritten note questioning why the Broncos needed to force the issue with Wilson in 2022. The incoming boss cited the two years remaining on the Seahawks-constructed deal as a reason the Broncos did not need to extend him immediately. Paton had also informed Wilson’s agent a Watson-level guarantee was a “nonstarter.”

In an email sent from Penner to two other members of the Broncos’ ownership group, Penner said Paton informed him the Broncos’ final proposal, regarding guarantees, was “far less than Watson,” and addressed the “benchmark” it set for the rest of the NFL regarding future negotiations. Penner also stated, when forwarding one of the Broncos’ Wilson offers to some in the Broncos ownership ranks, nothing in the deal “other owners would consider off market.”

At the time, the Broncos were believed to want to beat the QB market to the punch by extending Wilson in 2022. Wilson’s concerning play that season made that a poor decision. Wilson received $124MM fully guaranteed — a number still relevant to the Broncos due to the $84MM-plus dead money bloodbath that ensued because of the declining QB’s March 2024 release — but that number checking in so far south of Watson’s $230MM irked then-NFLPA president J.C. Tretter.

In texts with former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith on July 8, 2024, Tretter lampooned Wilson (via Torre) for not pushing harder for a fully guaranteed Broncos deal. “Instead of being the guy that made guaranteed contracts the norm, he’s the guy that ruined it for everyone,” Tretter said.

This exchange came after Tretter’s time as NFLPA president had ended; the union elected linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin as its new leader on March 8, 2024. Lloyd Howell succeeded Smith on June 28, 2023. (However, Howell had named Tretter as the NFLPA’s chief strategy officer by that point.) It is not exactly shocking to learn an NFLPA power broker was upset at a player not setting an impactful precedent — one that could have given other marquee players a gateway to land NBA- or MLB-style fully guaranteed contract structures — but Torre reports one of the texts referred to Wilson as a “wuss” for failing to do move his effort past the goal line.

Leadership referring to one of its players as such is obviously notable due to the responsibility the union holds. Part of the reason this document did not surface until now stemmed from Tretter not wanting this text exchange to be made public, Torre reports, citing NFLPA sources. This text exchange also impacted the collusion case as a whole, as Torre adds owners used Tretter’s Wilson remarks as evidence no ownership collusion took place.

Wilson did not live up to the trade return the Broncos sent the Seahawks, but the potential Hall of Fame passer has done incredibly well regardless of that two-year stint or failing to land a fully guaranteed Denver deal. Wilson has earned more than $313MM in his 13-year career. The Broncos are still carrying $32MM in dead money from Wilson’s post-June 1 cut, which came after he and the team feuded over a failed Paton effort to move his guarantee vesting date from 2024 to 2025. Wilson did step up in a precedent-setting effort on this front, a move that also protected him from potentially losing money.

Denver has moved on, via its Bo Nix draft investment, while Wilson signed with the Giants in late March. The Broncos would have tumbled into in a Browns-like abyss had they agreed on the QB’s short-lived full guarantee quest. Had the early Wilson momentum for a fully guaranteed extension — amid a desperate period for the Broncos at quarterback — succeeded, Nix probably is elsewhere. Like the Browns with Watson, the Broncos would have been unable to realistically move on due to the dead money consequences on a fully guaranteed deal.

The AFC West franchise succeeding in not matching the Browns’ guarantee structure for Wilson also helped future teams avoid such commitments, as a host of $50MM-per-year (and one $60MM AAV, via Dallas) contracts have been agreed to without coming close to Watson’s guarantee number since the Wilson-Broncos talks wrapped.

Traded Draft Picks For 2026

June 18th, 2025 at 10:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Many months remain before teams know where they are picking in the 2026 draft, but many clubs have made moves to acquire 2026 draft capital. Headlined by the Browns and Rams’ efforts, here are the 2026 picks to have changed hands thus far. When more deals involving picks are made (or conditions on moves already completed become known), that information will be added.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

NFL Minor Transactions: 6/18/25

June 18th, 2025 at 6:46pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s midweek minor transactions from across the NFL:

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

For the second year in a row, Denver is signing a player from the UFL. Last year, Dondrea Tillman contributed five sacks to the Broncos defense a couple months after finishing play with the Birmingham Stallions. Now the team dips back into Birmingham for Goodrich, who resorted to the UFL after spending the 2024 season away from the NFL. The Saints also dipped into the UFL today, taking Green off of the Arlington Renegades and Wesley off the Stallions.

After finally debuting in the NFL last year, despite getting drafted in 2022, Araiza was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate and played in the Super Bowl. Kansas City essentially assured that he would be around in 2025 when they tender him as an exclusive rights free agent, but with Araiza’s signature today, the transaction in complete.

Broncos, RB J.K. Dobbins Were In Contact Since March

June 15th, 2025 at 10:20am CST by Rory Parks

The Broncos recently signed running back J.K. Dobbins to a one-year contract worth $2.75MM, with an additional $2.5MM incentive package. Although the two sides just came to terms several days ago, there was mutual interest since free agency opened in March.

Per Luca Evans of the Denver Post, the Broncos made contact with Dobbins’ camp at the outset of free agency and stayed in touch over the next several months. Similarly, Dobbins – who played against defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s unit as a member of the Chargers last year and who lauded his new club’s O-line and quarterback Bo Nix – said joining Denver was a “no-brainer.” 

Though he is only 26, Dobbins is now far and away the most seasoned player in Denver’s RB room, which also features second-round rookie R.J. Harvey, 2024 fifth-rounder Audric Estime, and 2023 UDFA Jaleel McLaughlin. The overall underperformance of the club’s running backs in 2024, along with the free agency departure of Javonte Williams, led many to believe the Broncos would target the position on Day 1 of April’s draft.

UNC back Omarion Hampton was frequently mocked to Denver and its No. 20 overall pick. Instead, the Broncos chose a defensive player in Texas corner Jahdae Barron, and while they reportedly would have targeted Ohio State RB TreVeyon Henderson in a trade-down maneuver from the No. 20 spot, they clearly did not receive an offer tempting enough to relinquish the opportunity to select Barron.

In theory, the club could have moved up from its No. 51 slot to nab Henderson – who eventually went to the Patriots with the No. 38 pick – but Troy Renck of the Denver Post believes the Broncos eschewed that route largely because they knew they had Dobbins “in their back pocket.” Ultimately, Denver traded down twice from their No. 51 position to land Harvey at No. 60 overall.

Dobbins appears to have wanted to sign with Denver all along, and he was merely waiting for them (or, presumably, a different team with a clear RB opening) to hit his price point. Nick Chubb’s one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Texans helped crystallize Dobbins’ market, and he put pen to paper on his Broncos deal shortly after Chubb officially joined his new team. 

Dobbins admitted there was some urgency to the deal as a result of the Chargers’ decision to hit him with the UFA tender. If Dobbins had not signed a contract with a different club by July 22, the Bolts would have regained exclusive negotiating rights with him, and he theoretically could have been forced to play out the 2025 campaign on the $1.1MM tender (though Los Angeles did make him what was described as a “pretty decent” offer before he elected to join the Broncos). 

While the Chargers added Najee Harris in free agency and selected Hampton in the first round of the 2025 draft (just two picks after Barron came off the board), keeping Dobbins in the fold would not have broken the bank and would have given the team a deep and intriguing collection of RB talent. But from Dobbins’ perspective, Denver clearly presents a better opportunity.

Renck believes Dobbins will be ticketed for a starting role from the jump, as he says Harvey will “ideally” begin sharing early-down snaps with his new teammate by the middle of October. That said, Harvey was not a consensus second-round talent, so if Dobbins can stay healthy – which has been difficult for him since he suffered a torn ACL in a preseason game in 2021, his second year in the league – he could see the lion’s share of carries throughout the 2025 season.

Dobbins missed four games due to a MCL strain in 2024, his first and only season with the Chargers. Still, he tallied 905 yards and nine TDs on a strong 4.6 yards-per-carry average, and his 27 runs of 10+ yards was the 11th-highest total in the league. After playing in just one game the year prior, Dobbins finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting in 2024 (behind Bengals QB Joe Burrow).

Players Interested In Olympic Flag Football

June 14th, 2025 at 5:59pm CST by Ely Allen

Since the announcement that the NFL’s ownership group would allow active NFL players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics’ flag football event, there’s been plenty of speculation on which players might find themselves representing the US of A. While Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes made it known that he had no intentions of playing, and Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill claimed he’d rather do track, there have been some players who have expressed interest.

If Team USA is looking for a quarterback, it needn’t look past last year’s MVP. According to ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg, Bills quarterback Josh Allen is prepared to throw his hat in the ring. In a quote to the media, Allen made sure not to disrespect the current quarterbacks of the flag football community but claimed that he “would absolutely love to” play if the opportunity presented itself.

While we haven’t seen any other offensive weapons volunteer themselves to potentially play with Allen, Team USA has a few offers on defense. If they play their cards right, the country’s national flag football team could land the two cornerbacks that topped Pro Football Focus’s positional rankings in 2022.

The Jets released a video this week of star cornerback Sauce Gardner expressing his interest in playing. Gardner told reporters that he “definitely would be interested in…being able to play for (his) country.” The third-year cornerback had a relatively down year after two first-team All-Pro seasons to open his career, but I imagine Team USA would at least do their homework to see how he’d fit on the team.

If the Olympic team really wants to create a shutdown cornerback tandem, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain has also offered his services. According to Luca Evans of The Denver Post, Surtain spoke at an event for his foundation earlier this month and told the media he has “definitely high interest” in playing, calling the possibility a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Ultimately, it’ll be a couple years before we truly know who all could be participating. Each team will be able to send one player to the flag football tryouts whenever they take place. At the moment, it sounds like Allen, Gardner, and Surtain are making bids to be the representatives from Buffalo, New York, and Denver.

Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto Higher Broncos Extension Priorities Than Courtland Sutton?

June 13th, 2025 at 1:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

When the Broncos agreed on merely an incentive package with Courtland Sutton last year, they are believed to have targeted 2025 as the window for their top wide receiver to be paid. But big seasons from younger players may affect the receiver’s place in a growing Denver extension queue.

Helping the Broncos’ defense become a top-five unit in 2024, Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto earned second-team All-Pro acclaim. A 2023 free agency addition, Allen is entering an age-28 season. Bonitto joins the disruptive interior D-lineman in a contract year; the former second-round pick will turn 26 in September, soon before Sutton will turn 30 (October).

While Sutton has been an integral part of the Broncos’ offense since they traded Super Bowl-era stalwart Demaryius Thomas at the 2018 trade deadline, it is now possible he has lost ground in a push for an extension due to the level jumps Allen and Bonitto made. The two defenders are considered higher extension priorities compared to Sutton, the Denver Post’s Troy Renck notes. Sutton extension talks dragging would bring another complication to what has been a successful but complicated partnership.

The 2018 second-round pick became a mainstay on the trade block between the 2022 and ’24 trade deadlines. The Broncos dangled Sutton during trade windows between this point, nearly sending him to the Ravens (before the AFC North club’s 2023 Odell Beckham Jr. signing) and discussed him with the 49ers last year. Other discussions undoubtedly occurred since 2022, but it was certainly notable when the Broncos turned down a third-rounder from the 49ers for Sutton. The 6-foot-4 performer then became an integral part of Bo Nix‘s rookie-year emergence, cashing in on incentives during his second 1,000-yard season.

Sutton also has run into a timing problem, which we have outlined previously. His four-year, $60MM extension — agreed to in November 2021, before Sean Payton‘s arrival — appeared in step with the market at that time. But after Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill‘s March 2022 extensions brought a sea change, Sutton’s pact began to look Broncos-friendly. The 2024 WR market boom only made matters worse for a player who is now the NFL’s 25th-highest-paid receiver. Sutton posted a 10-touchdown 2023 season, helping Russell Wilson rebound from a disastrous 2022 slate, and helped Nix finish with the second-most rookie-year TD passes (29) in NFL history.

Not only is Sutton the last WR holdover from the John Elway GM period, none of the Broncos’ other wideouts were around before Payton’s 2023 arrival. Denver is betting on development from some younger players at the position, with 2024 seventh-rounder Devaughn Vele at the front of that line. Before missing minicamp, Vele had turned heads during Broncos OTAs, Renck adds.

An unconventional rookie due to serving a Mormon mission while at Utah, Vele will turn 28 this year. He would make for an unusual extension candidate down the road, but for now, Renck offers that the 6-5 target could be viewed as a post-2025 Sutton replacement if extension talks go south. Vele, who caught 41 passes for 475 yards as a rookie, is signed through 2027. He is not expected to miss any training camp time, Payton said (via the Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel). Vele joins Marvin Mims, Troy Franklin and third-round rookie Pat Bryant as Sutton’s rookie-contract supporting cast.

Sutton reported for Broncos voluntary work this offseason and did say extension talks had yielded progress. The Broncos under GM George Paton have also done plenty of extension business during the summer and into the season. Between mid-June and mid-December last year, the team extended Quinn Meinerz, Patrick Surtain, Jonathon Cooper and Garett Bolles. Allen is interested in an extension, and the team has begun talking to Bonitto about a second contract. A host of post-draft priorities are in place after the team’s first playoff berth in nine years.

Bonitto’s market will come in higher than Sutton’s, while Allen leading all interior D-linemen in QB pressures (47) last season will spike his value as well. Sutton would be in good position to be paid as a 30-year-old free agent in 2026, but cashing in ahead of his age-30 season would help. This will be a summer storyline to monitor for a rejuvenated Broncos team.

Broncos To Sign RB J.K. Dobbins

June 10th, 2025 at 10:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

10:05pm: Chubb’s terms do resemble Dobbins’, as Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reports the sixth-year back will join the Broncos for $2.75MM in base value. The contract can max out at $5.25MM through incentives. The incentives will be tied to yards from scrimmage, Florio adds. Rushing yards also factor into the incentive package, per 9News’ Mike Klis.

2:37pm: J.K. Dobbins left his Denver visit without a contract, but the sides circled back to such business. The 2024 Chargers starter is indeed committing to the Broncos, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports.

Dobbins agreed on a one-year deal to join the team, which will be his third in three seasons. This will be a notable change for Denver, which used a second-round pick on R.J. Harvey in the draft. Dobbins’ signing comes a day after the Texans gave Nick Chubb a $2.5MM deal; it will be interesting to see if Dobbins’ Broncos terms are similar.

The Chargers had placed a UFA tender on Dobbins in May, but like Elijah Moore, such a move will not lead to a return. The Bolts had made other plans this offseason, signing Najee Harris and using a first-round pick on Omarion Hampton.

Tuesday’s signing could mark a significant change for the team, which lost primary 2024 starter Javonte Williams in free agency. That said, Denver still employs rookie-contract holdovers in Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime. The latter’s path to a notable role may well become blocked by Dobbins, who delivered a bounce-back season in Los Angeles following an injury-plagued Baltimore stay. Dobbins would stand to pair with Harvey, offering a seasoned early-downs option to go with the team’s No. 60 overall choice.

Sean Payton, who confirmed Tuesday (via the Denver Gazette’s Chris Tomasson) the team was close to signing Dobbins, had said the Broncos viewed Harvey as a three-down back. It would not seem the team has changed its stance so soon on the Central Florida product, as shoulder pads do not come on until early in training camp, but it does appear the Broncos may not be ready to give the prospect a three-down role from the start. Dobbins represents high-end insurance, and a committee would seem likely based on this agreement.

Denver used a committee approach last season, primarily giving time to Williams and McLaughlin. The latter is a third-year UDFA who has operated as a change-of-pace option and pass-game weapon. Dobbins’ signing would not stand to affect McLaughlin’s aerial role, but Harvey’s arrival certainly could. One season remains on McLaughlin’s rookie contract; three are left on Estime’s. The Broncos used a fifth-round pick to bring in Estime out of Notre Dame, but an early-season injury and fumbling issues plagued his rookie year. Not much of an outlet option for Bo Nix, Estime looks to have seen his stock fall during the Broncos’ offseason program.

Dobbins, 26, finished second in Comeback Player of the Year voting — behind Joe Burrow — last season. Given a one-year, $1.61MM deal that included just $50K guaranteed, the former Ravens second-rounder overtook the higher-paid Gus Edwards to become the Bolts’ starter. Dobbins averaged 4.6 yards per carry, accumulating 905 to help the Chargers to the playoffs. Jim Harbaugh used a more run-focused offense last season, and Dobbins also managed to shake off another injury — a midseason MCL sprain — to return and help a late-season charge to the wild-card round.

Next Gen Stats’ rush yards over expected metric placed Dobbins 12th last season (115); Williams (minus-83) landed near the bottom of that chart. Williams has not been the same since a 2022 injury, ACL and LCL tears, but the Broncos will now turn to a player with a more significant medical sheet. Dobbins has missed 46 games since suffering a late-summer ACL tear in 2021. That injury cost him nine games in 2022, which required an IR stint after he had returned, and an Achilles tear cost the Ohio State product 16 games in 2023.

Payton regularly relied on backfield committees in New Orleans, as Pierre Thomas and Mark Ingram respectively gave way to flashier options in Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles and Alvin Kamara. Dobbins-Harvey appears the veteran HC’s next top duo, as the Broncos ranked 16th in rushing yards last season. Nix contributed 430 to the team’s cause; he will now have more help on the ground.

Injuries have crushed Dobbins’ NFL earning potential, but his Chargers reemergence will present an opportunity — via this Broncos commitment — at building up more value during his mid-20s.

NFL Minor Transactions: 6/5/25

June 5th, 2025 at 8:03pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Jacksonville Jaguars

Pittsburgh Steelers

With the Steelers adding S Quindell Johnson yesterday, the team ended up moving on from one of their other defensive backs. The choice was Bledsoe, a former sixth-round pick by the Patriots. The Missouri product got into four games during his two seasons in New England. Following a brief stint in the UFL, Bledsoe caught on with the Steelers’ offseason roster back in January.

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