If you want a reminder of how you shouldn’t get too worked up over what the first day brings — or doesn’t bring — all you need to do is look over at the exit from Broncos headquarters.
Walking through that door and away from the Mile High City is Dre Greenlaw. Twelve months ago, he was the shiny new acquisition. Now, he’s yesterday’s news, deemed expendable, the Broncos deciding that they’d rather have the cap savings and some dead money to go along with it than the veteran linebacker on their roster.
Greenlaw was supposed to transform the possibilities for the Broncos’ linebacker corps, to bring a sideline-to-sideline playmaking presence. Instead, he struggled to burst from the starting blocks because of a nagging quadriceps issue, absorbed a league suspension after finally making it onto the field, and finally, after a December hamstring injury, found himself a rotational player in the postseason as Justin Strnad earned the starting nod for the playoffs.
One year, the focal point. The next, a relative afterthought. The Broncos got the improvement they needed at inside linebacker and the defense as a whole — they just found it from the return of Alex Singleton and the emergence of Strnad.
So it goes with free agency. The Broncos had two major pickups on the first day of the legal-tampering period last year and went 1-for-2. Greenlaw was a miss; Talanoa Hufanga was a hit. Evan Engram followed two days later; J.K. Dobbins arrived three months afterward.
The Broncos could have chosen to ride with Greenlaw for 2026. But doing so would have meant not re-signing Strnad or Alex Singleton. Neither was coming back to be a reserve; each would have had a starting opportunity awaiting him in free agency somewhere.
They could have cast their lot with others. But they felt the best chance to push the No. 2 defense up a bit higher rested in bringing back the quarterback of that defense and the seven-year veteran who had his breakout season last year — two players who would likely have started elsewhere, but who have more value to the Broncos than they would anywhere else.
And George Paton made the team’s feelings about both perfectly clear a fortnight ago at the Combine.
“We’d love to have them back, regardless of what’s in the draft,” Paton said, alluding to a deep class of inside linebackers that the Broncos examined heavily at the Combine.
“We see those guys as Broncos. If we let those guys leave, what are we doing?”
So they got a pair of starting inside linebackers for less than the average-per-year value of Devin Lloyd’s deal with the Carolina Panthers.
Time will tell if one ends up saying in a year, “You get what you pay for.”
But the Broncos know Singleton and Strnad. They opted for familiarity — but more importantly, FIT.
WITH THE BRONCOS, CULTURE AND FIT COUNT
One tenet of the Payton-era Broncos that eludes some onlookers is that their roster construction is not about selecting the most talented group of 53 players plus 16 for the practice squad. It’s about finding the right collection of people, the ideal mix of personalities. Chemistry and cohesion aren’t buzzwords; they’re necessary elements for success.
A team that stays together, that possesses the right blend of people is more likely to eke out those narrow wins in a league where the difference between teams can be negligible, leading games to often be decided at the margins, and by the most imperceptible of factors. Bill Parcells’ teams were built with such attributes in mind and he won more than a few games; it’s no surprise that the Broncos of his protege have a similar DNA.
Penalty rate in 2025 and overall receiving production doesn’t flatter Adam Trautman, for example, although his drop rate has been among the best among NFL tight ends in recent years, and was the second-best for Broncos pass-catchers this past season. But he’s steady, has been with Payton for the coach’s last six seasons and is a guiding presence for his position group, which could feature another young player if the Broncos follow through on their interviews with tight ends at the Combine by adding one in the draft.
Similar to Strnad and Singleton, Trautman has more value to the Broncos than he would anywhere else in the NFL. And Sean Payton tipped his hand regarding the seven-year veteran tight end when he mentioned his name to Rich Eisen as he talked about potential Broncos free agents in an interview at the Combine, showing that the 2020 third-round pick was on his mind.
Just as numbers don’t reveal everything for Trautman, they don’t show Singleton’s value to the team, either.
His Next Gen Stats data in coverage last year wasn’t flattering. But as a pass rusher, he shines, and in terms of quarterbacking the defense, Vance Joseph finds him to be indispensable — his “eyes and ears” on the field.
And he was voted by teammates as a captain two years in a succession. He already had the respect of the locker room even before he played nearly an entire game on a torn ACL, and another game a year later with a potential cancer diagnosis looming over him.
A player like that won’t have any trouble commanding respect in a huddle when the defense is attempting to rally for one final stop in the clutch.
THE PUBLIC ISN’T GOING TO APPROVE
Of course, Broncos Country wanted a splash Monday. It heard Greg Penner talk of the team being “opportunistically aggressive” in free agency and focused on the second word more than the first.
It George Paton saying the club would be “aggressive” in its offseason approach with the Super Bowl so close, but seemed to overlook the words that followed: “but really measured and try to make sound decisions.”
In other words, they told you that aggression would be tempered. There wouldn’t be signings for the sake of appearances. They’d pursue, but it’s not a matter of saying, “Get me any player, at any cost!”
Poll time:
How would you grade the Broncos for the first day of the legal-tampering period?
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) March 10, 2026
So, the first day wasn’t earth-shattering. It won’t win any public awards. And with the departure of John Franklin-Myers, the Broncos’ roster isn’t as strong as it was for the AFC Championship Game.
But no one stays still at their skill level. They’re banking on young players improving.
And this was just Day 1 of the legal-tampering period. Last year, they found a running back who galvanized their offense for 10 weeks of the season before succumbing to injury during minicamp in June.
So, take a breath.
You can give a harsh grade for Day 1 if you must. But no one gives out a trophy for the day.