4 Broncos players who will be squarely on roster bubble despite being re-signed

The Denver Broncos took an interesting approach to free agency this year, choosing to re-sign nearly every free agent they had, including players who hardly saw the field last season. However, the team is clearly building continuity. 

Before coming to terms with free-agent defensive back Tycen Anderson, the Broncos were the last team in the league to sign a free agent from outside the organization. The focus, at least at first, was to use those resources on their own players. 

That said, some of these players are not going to be assured of being on the roster in 2026. They will have to earn their keep in training camp and survive some position battles after the team adds more options in the 2026 NFL Draft and after signing players who go undrafted. 

For these four players, nothing is guaranteed. 

4 re-signed Broncos players squarely on roster bubble

Jaleel McLaughlin, RB

The Broncos chose not to tender a contract to restricted free agent Jaleel McLaughlin, which made him an unrestricted free agent. He still came back to the Broncos at a lower rate. 

But he is clearly the team's fourth option at running back behind J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey and Tyler Badie. The Broncos could easily add another running back in the draft, which would all but bump him off the roster. 

His best bet will be to improve as much as possible in pass protection to unset Badie for his spot. McLaughlin is a better offensive player than Badie, but Badie gets the snaps due to being better in pass protection and being able to play on special teams. 

Matt Henningsen, DL

After missing the entire 2025 season, it was a surprise to see the Broncos bring back Matt Henningsen. There is a lack of depth along the defensive line, which gives him a chance to stick around... for now. He will face long odds to make the 2026 roster. 

Lucas Krull, TE

The Broncos, at least as things currently stand, will have the exact same tight end group that they had last season, which doesn't bring about excitement. 

Lucas Krull played in just three games last year and is far behind Evan Engram, Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins on the depth chart. If the Broncos add a tight end in the draft or even as an undrafted player, Krull's days could be numbered. 

Matt Peart, OL

Matt Peart agreed to take a pay cut to stay in Denver, but he will still have to prove he belongs this summer. Alex Palczewski, who took over as the fill-in for Ben Powers after Peart suffered a knee injury last season, played quite well and should be ahead of Peart on the depth chart.

If the Broncos keep the usual number of eight offensive linemen on the 53-man roster, you'd have to figure that Garett Bolles, Powers, Luke Wattenberg, Quinn Meinerz, Mike McGlinchey, Palczewski and Frank Crum will be seven of them. 

That would leave Peart to battle with guys like Alex Forsyth, Michael Deiter, Nick Gargiulo, Calvin Throckmorton, Nash Jones and Marques Cox, and that's if the team doesn't add anyone else, which is extremely unlikely. 

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Peart could beat out all of these guys or the Broncos could choose to keep nine linemen, but he will still have to prove he still belongs. 

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