Broncos rumor reveals reason behind Denver's lack of action in free agency

One of the oddest things to see during the offseason has been the Denver Broncos' lack of action in free agency.

While Denver has brought back a lot of its own players and recently pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the team remains the only one in the NFL that has not signed an outside free agent.

That's odd because typically a team like the Broncos that was one Bo Nix injury away from going to the Super Bowl is more aggressive.

But there might be an explanation for that outside of the Broncos simply striking out on players they were interested in.

According to Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom, the belief around the league is that the Broncos are quiet because they are trying to load up on compensatory picks for next year's draft.

“Denver is playing the 2027 compensatory pick game, that’s their strategy,” an exec from another NFL team told La Canfora. “They want to stockpile picks. They let John Franklin-Myers walk and PJ Locke. That’s a four and a seven.”

"You would think they’d be more aggressive after (significantly improving) the last two years, and with (quarterback) Bo Nix still on his rookie contract, but they want the comp picks," an NFL general manager said.

The Broncos are currently slated to have seven picks in the 2026 NFL draft, which is not great on the surface. However, because of the Broncos' talented roster that still has plenty of youth on it, that's not a big deal.

Denver is, however, in position to stock up on a ton of young talent in 2027, which is expected to be a better draft class overall.

When including the project comp picks from the losses of John Franklin-Myers and P.J. Locke, the Broncos are slated to have 10 picks next year.

Of course, having that much draft capital also gives the Broncos flexibility to pull off more trades, whether those trades involve moving up in the draft or adding veteran pieces that can help Denver immediately.

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