The Denver Broncos aren’t upgrading their running backs room.
At least, not yet.
Many people expected Broncos GM George Paton and head coach Sean Payton to spend big at the position on Monday. That didn’t happen, with Denver instead retaining J.K. Dobbins on a two-year deal.
Dobbins is a great player when healthy, but that’s been a problem his entire career. He played in only 10 games for the Broncos in 2025, missing nine, including two playoff games.
If Dobbins was healthy, even without Bo Nix they might’ve gone to the Super Bowl. Instead, Paton and Payton are betting on him staying on the field in 2026 and beyond.
But fans were frustrated as Monday dragged on, with the Broncos missing out on free agent running backs like Kenneth Walker III, Travis Etienne, Tyler Allgeier, Rico Dowdle and Kenneth Gainwell. Those were the top-5 names on the board if Denver wanted outside help. None will wear orange and blue.
Walker is headed to the Chiefs, Etienne to the Saints, Allgeier to the Cardinals, Dowdle to the Steelers and Gainwell to the Buccaneers.
Signing someone like Walker, the Super Bowl MVP, would’ve been a huge boost for the Broncos. Not only did they miss out on him — he also landed with division rival Kansas City.
Folks also would’ve been happy with any of the other four, but especially Etienne. He got $13 million a year from New Orleans, which seems like a lot, but Denver has the richest ownership group in the NFL and is finally done with the Russell Wilson dead cap hit.
A couple of moves were made on the defensive side of the ball, retaining Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad and cutting Dre Greenlaw, but nothing particularly exciting.
Free agency is just opening, but all the top running back options are gone. That feels like a whiff from Paton and Payton, not as aggressive as they should’ve been.