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Denver Broncos 2025 Grades: Report card for team's free-agent signings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Denver Broncos set out to be aggressive in free agency this past offseason, landing three big names early on in the signing window. Now that the dead money in the contract of former quarterback Russell Wilson will no longer hurt the team, the Broncos can look to make even more noise when the new league year opens in March.
The Broncos were expected to be a competitive team in 2025, but they seemed to overachieve the expectations of most, making it all the way to the AFC Championship Game, a game they likely would have won if starting quarterback Bo Nix had been healthy.
The team will have Super Bowl aspirations again in 2026 and will likely be scouring the free-agent market for weapons to provide to Nix.
Having already graded this year's rookie class, let's look back at the team's moves in free agency this past season, starting with the players the Broncos re-signed.
Denver Broncos 2025 Free Agency Grades
Re-Signings
Jarrett Stidham, QB
Jarrett Stidham has been, by all accounts, the perfect partner for Nix in the quarterback room in terms of preparation. He is exactly what you want in a backup quarterback, a player ready to take the reins who understands the offense.
That is why the Broncos re-signed him to a two-year deal this offseason. He looked tremendous in the preseason. But when Nix broke his ankle in the divisional round of the playoffs, he was forced into the starting role in the AFC Championship Game. You can't hand out a complete grade without considering that poor performance.
The weather was a huge factor in that game, but Stidham played poorly and likely cost the Broncos the chance to go to the Super Bowl. Still, Sean Payton likely has a lot of confidence in him as the team's backup QB moving forward.
Grade: C+
D.J. Jones, DL
The Broncos had one of the best defenses in the league this past season, led by their pass rush. D.J. Jones does a lot of the work that goes unnoticed to assist in that pass rush being so dominant. He also added three sacks of his own.
The three-year, $39 million extension he signed last March once looked like a bit of a surprise, but he has become a fixture on this defense.
Grade: A-
Justin Strnad, LB
The Broncos have had questions at the inside linebacker position for years, so it was a no-brainer to bring Justin Strnad back. That ended up being a great decision as injuries to Alex Singleton and Dre Greenlaw forced him to start in eight games. He was terrific in that role.
Grade: A
Matt Peart, OL
Matt Peart was brought back to be the top rotational offensive lineman for the team. When Ben Powers tore his biceps in Week 5, Peart took over as one of the starting guards. He played in one game, played really badly, and was lost for the season with a knee injury.
There is a good chance he will be made a cap casualty this offseason.
Grade: D
Michael Burton, FB
Sean Payton is going to feature a fullback in his offense and Michael Burton had filled that role since he came to Denver. The team re-signed him in March, but in August, during the preseason, he suffered a hamstring injury. The Broncos chose to place him on season-ending injured reserve.
Grade: Incomplete
Mitchell Fraboni, LS
The Broncos re-signed their long snapper, Mitchell Fraboni, to a three-year contract extension in March and he played in every game for the team, making no mistakes. A consistent, reliable player is essential at this position and Fraboni has held that role for the Broncos for the past four seasons.
Grade: A
Free-Agent Signings
While retaining in-house free agents, the excitement of free agency comes from players joining new teams. The Broncos signed some big names as soon as the window to do so opened.
Dre Greenlaw, LB
The signing of Dre Greenlaw brought a huge reaction from Broncos Country, who were familiar with his work in San Francisco. He promised to bring an enforcer's mentality to a defense that sorely needed one.
The knock on Greenlaw was his health and unfortunately, that reared its ugly head right out of the gate for the Broncos when he suffered a quadriceps injury in camp. He would deal with injuries for a large chunk of the season, limiting his time on the field.
He was effective when he was on the field, but he just wasn't out there enough. The Broncos could move on from him in a cost-cutting measure this offseason.
Grade: C-
Talanoa Hufanga, S
When the Broncos signed Greenlaw, they didn't stop there. They chose to take another defender off San Francisco's roster and grabbed the young, hard-hitting Talanoa Hufanga. Like Greenlaw, Hufanga came with some health issues. But unlike Greenlaw, he played in every single game.
Hufanga was an incredible addition. He finished second on the team with 106 tackles and added two sacks. There were instances where he looked like the best player on the field and so long as he can avoid injury, he will be a key piece of the Broncos' future.
Grade: A
Evan Engram, TE
Broncos fans wanted an elite weapon for Nix to distribute the ball to and it looked like they found one when the team came to terms with Evan Engram.
A former first-round pick, Engram looked like the perfect fit for the "Joker" role in Payton's offense. He was anything but that.
There were games where you would forget he was even on the team because of his lack of involvement in the offense. He did finish third on the team with 50 receptions but he had six games in which he caught two passes or less and only found the end zone once.
Grade: C
Trent Sherfield, WR
A wide receiver by trade, Trent Sherfield was signed for his special teams prowess. But halfway through the season, the team had seen enough, waiving him in order to make room to bring Lil'Jordan Humphrey back onto the roster.
Grade: D
J.K. Dobbins, RB
J.K. Dobbins sat on the free-agent market until June, waiting for a team to ring his phone. The Broncos ended up being that team, deciding to give the injury-prone running back a shot.
Dobbins was fantastic for the team and he was fifth in the league in rushing yards when he went down with a foot injury in Week 10. Though he worked hard to get back onto the field, he didn't play again after that and his loss was crucial down the stretch.
The Broncos should consider re-signing him, but the fact he has never finished a season in his career is a real problem.
Grade: B
Matt Haack, P
The Broncos lacked a punter on their roster when they chose to sign veteran Matt Haack, a player who had played under new special teams coach Darren Rizzi. But when the Broncos used their sixth-round pick on Jeremy Crawshaw, Haack was quickly sent packing.
He ended up kicking for the Arizona Cardinals for part of the season.
Grade: C-
Sam Ehlinger, QB
Payton believes he has a second-string QB who could start for many teams in Stidham and he also feels that Sam Ehlinger is much better than most people realize.
The former Texas Longhorn spent the 2025 season on the Broncos' practice squad, serving as an emergency option should the team need one. It was a huge vote of confidence in what the Broncos are building when Ehlinger passed up better roles with different teams in order to stay in Denver.
Grade: B
Sam Franklin, Jr.
Another player the Broncos brought in to improve the special teams unit, Sam Franklin, was released following the preseason in a somewhat surprising decision. He was scooped up quickly by the Buffalo Bills and spent the season as a key contributor for their special teams.
Grade: D
Adam Prentice, FB
When Burton went down for the season, the Broncos needed a reliable option to come in and play fullback and Adam Prentice, who had been with the Broncos before and also played under Payton in New Orleans, ended up being a terrific choice.
He did all the little things well and was always ready when his number was called. In fact, the Broncos would be wise to keep Prentice in favor of Burton next season.
Grade: A
Cole Fotheringham, TE
The BGrade: Croncos wanted to consider all options at tight end this past offseason and Cole Fotheringham was brought in to help round out the preseason 90-man roster. But an injury stopped him in his tracks before he could even get going. He was released about a month later. The New England Patriots signed him after that but he was cut following the preseason.
Grade: Incomplete
Caden Preiskorn, TE
Following the injury to Fotheringham, the Broncos brought in Caden Preiskorn and he had a solid training camp. There was some noise that he could make the 53-man roster behind Engram and Adam Trautman. But once the preseason concluded, the Broncos decided that Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull were better options and cut him.
He was picked up by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent some time on their practice squad. He was signed to a future contract by the Cleveland Browns on January 5.
Grade: C
Garrett Wallow, LB
The Broncos added Wallow, a former fifth-round pick of the Houston Texans, in August. He made the team's practice squad and was elevated from the practice squad due to injuries, playing in seven games. He totaled five tackles on the season before a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.
The Broncos waived him in December and he was signed by the 49ers two days later.
Grade: C
Garrett Nelson, LB
The Broncos brought in Garrett Nelson for added depth and he got time on the team's practice squad. He did enough to earn a future/reserve deal from the team last week.
Grade: C
Zach Triner, LS
While Fraboni dealt with a bit of a back injury, the Broncos brought in Zach Triner to help lighten the load, but Triner was never a serious threat to take his job. He did what he was brought in for and is a name the team could always turn to in the future.
Grade: C
Overall Grade
It was a mixed bag for the Broncos in free agency. Several under-the-radar names were key contributors, but the headline signings of Engram and Greenlaw left much to be desired. The hope will be that both of those players are much bigger pieces of the team in 2026.
READ:Broncos upcoming free agent just drew a difficult line in the sand
With that said, the team did enough to help it be more competitive in 2025 and the signings of Hufanga and Dobbins were two of the big reasons why they went for a Wild Card team to a division winner.
Overall Grade: B-
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