The Broncos will be holding onto all five of their exclusive rights free agents.
According to multiple reports, the Broncos have tendered contracts to cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian, tight end Lucas Krull, linebacker Dondrea Tillman, defensive lineman Jordan Jackson, and safety Devon Key.
The players will have to sign the tenders before getting back on the field, but they will not be able to negotiate with other clubs so that is likely to happen without any issue.
McMillian had 81 tackles, two interceptions, a sack and a forced fumble in 17 regular season appearances while Krull caught 19 passes for 152 yards. Tillman had five sacks in a rotational role and Jackson and Key both played reserve and special teams roles over the course of the season.
Since the Jets were going to cut receiver Davante Adams before next Wednesday, they gave him a head start on the open market.
So he’s now a free agent for the first time in his career.
And the betting favorite to sign him is the team that drafted him in 2014. Via DraftKings, the Packers have +190 odds to be Adams’s next team.
The Chargers are next at +500, followed by the 49ers at +650, the Rams at +750, the Steelers at +950, and the Broncos and Patriots at 1000.
Another reunion, with the Raiders, is a 12-1 proposition.
Some think he’ll land wherever quarterback Aaron Rodgers goes. With the Giants at -150 to sign Rodgers, maybe Adams (like Rodgers) will be changing teams without changing addresses.
Running back Javonte Williams led the Broncos in rushing for the second straight year in 2024, but he saw Jaleel McLaughlin and Audric Estime take on a bigger share of the work in the backfield and that seemed to foreshadow an offseason departure.
Williams is set to become a free agent next month and paying him feels like a low priority given the other backs in Denver as well as the options available through the draft. General Manager George Paton didn’t rule it out during a press conference from the Scouting Combine on Tuesday.
“Well, I mean, there’s a chance we bring Javonte back, and I think Javonte is one of the best pass protectors in the league,” Paton said, via Andrew Mason of 104.3 The Fan. “And I think he’s still young and he’s still ascending, another year removed from the injury. But I think there’s so many different flavors in this draft of runner, and we have some backs that we like.”
Paton noted the severe knee injury that Williams suffered early in the 2022 season and there will be some thoughts of how things might have gone for Williams had he avoided that absence. That answer is impossible to know and it could lead to his next chapter being set in another town.
Broncos linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite was arrested on Sunday night and accused of assaulting a police officer.
Wilhoite was booked in the Denver downtown jail on suspicion of second degree assault of a police officer and is scheduled to appear in Denver County court Monday morning, according to Mike Klis of KUSA.
No details about what happened to lead to Wilhoite’s arrest have been released. The Broncos issued a brief statement acknowledging the arrest.
“We are aware of a situation involving Michael Wilhoite that occurred Sunday and are in the process of gathering more information,’' the Broncos’ statement said.
The 38-year-old Wilhoite was undrafted coming out of Division II Washburn in 2011 and had to begin his professional playing career with the United Football League, but he played well enough there to draw NFL attention and had a short career as a linebacker with the 49ers and Seahawks. He was then hired to work on Sean Payton’s coaching staff with the Saints in 2019 and 2020, spent two years as the Chargers’ linebackers coach in 2021 and 2022, and then was hired by Payton again on the Broncos in 2023.
The Broncos are hiring Marwan Maalouf as their assistant special teams coach, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
He reunites with Darren Rizzi, who recently was named the team’s new special teams coach. Maalouf and Rizzi worked together in Miami from 2013-18.
Phil Galiano had been Rizzi’s long-time assistant special teams coach, but the Saints promoted Galiano to special teams coordinator when Rizzi left.
Maalouf spent part of last season with Rizzi in New Orleans in 2024 after Rizzi became the interim head coach. Maalouf helped Galiano with the special teams the final eight games.
Maalouf was the Vikings’ special teams coordinator in 2019-20, which was the last time he coached in the NFL until Rizzi’s call in the middle of last season.
