The Broncos leaned on Alex Palczewski for significant chunks of the last two seasons — first at right tackle in 2024 in place of Mike McGlinchey, then at left guard last year after Ben Powers and Matt Peart succumbed to injuries.
So, it came as no surprise that the team would want him back as he was set to become a restricted free agent next week. But by getting a two-year contract worked out with the four-year veteran, the Broncos not only maintained a stabilizing presence and one of the NFL’s better young reserve linemen, but also set up one potential path for the Illinois product to become a long-term starter for the team.
Had the Broncos not worked out a contract with Palczewski, the team would have needed to tender him at either a right-of-first-refusal level — $3.52 million — or a second-round value of $5.767 million. Denver chose the latter option with slot cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian last week, believing that at the original-round level, there would have been substantial market interest.
Palczewski shifted to left guard last year, working on that side of the offensive line for the first time since high school, and after a period of adjustment, settled in well. Per data compiled by Pro Football Focus, Palczewski ranked 27th of 71 guards (minimum 400 snaps) in QB-hit rate, allowing contact with the quarterback once every 101.3 pass-blocking snaps.
His pressure rate of one every 19.3 pass-blocking snaps ranked 42nd.
“He’s big, he’s smart and he’s really tough. It didn’t always look really pretty, but he played well,” general manager George Paton said last week. That is just an added bonus. He played well at right tackle when he had to start there when [McGlinchey] was out.
“… He’s a young developmental player who has kind of hit his stride and we are fortunate to have him.”
HOW PALCZEWSKI’S CONTRACT FITS IN ALONG THE BRONCOS’ OFFENSIVE LINE
After locking up right guard Quinn Meinerz and left tackle Garett Bolles in 2024 and center Luke Wattenberg in 2025 to long-term extensions, the next offensive-line contract situations to monitor are those of Powers and right tackle Mike McGlinchey.
McGlinchey and Powers rank 1-2 in the amount of cap space that could immediately be created by a release or trade of either player on the current Broncos roster, at $8.45 million and $8.38 million, respectively. But with a pre-June 1 designation, both would create more dead money than cap savings, although with Powers it’s close, at $9.775 million, per data from Over the Cap.
That calculus changes with the post-June 1 designations:
Powers: $5.425 million of dead money; $12.73 million saved
McGlinchey: $6.275 million of dead money; $17.5 million saved
This is the final year of Powers’ contract; he has a void year in 2027, for which the Broncos have a $4.35 million cap charge currently scheduled. McGlinchey is under contract for 2027; the Broncos could save $14.725 million on his deal with a release in next year’s offseason — with a pre-June 1 designation — with $9.05 million of dead money.
Thus, there would appear to be a potential starting slot opening up for Palczewski. It’s just a matter of where — and when.
A move regarding Powers in the coming weeks would be an obvious sign that the baton is being passed. But Palczewski’s two-year contract opens the door for another year as an uber-dependable understudy before a potential promotion for 2027.
That being said, the Broncos value continuity and cohesion up front; these qualities have helped the offensive line become one of the NFL’s most proficient in recent years. Making a cap-cutting move could create space for a big addition, but it would be curious given the team’s emphasis on the line’s primacy in the team-building process; as Payton often says, it “permeates the building.”
PLENTY TO MONITOR FOR OTHER BACKUP O-LINE CONTRACTS, TOO
The Broncos also have Peart under contract for 2026 after his knee injury last October, but the team could create $3.225 million of cap space with just $750,000 of dead money by releasing him.
Last year, Denver began the season with Palczewski as the right-side reserve with Peart handling backup duties on the left flank. When Powers succumbed at Philadelphia in Week 5, Peart stepped in for the Week 6 contest against the New York Jets in London. He played nearly the entire game on a ruptured medial collateral ligament.
Reserve tackle Frank Crum is in the final year of his undrafted rookie contract; he is scheduled to become a restricted free agent next offseason.
Backup center Alex Forsyth, who filled in for Wattenberg for the final two games of the regular season and the divisional-round win over Buffalo, is also set to begin the final year of his rookie deal this season.