The Broncos’ inactivity in free agency last week ended up masking the build-up to a bold strike Tuesday in the form of their trade for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. But through Wednesday morning, they remained the only team that had not added a free agent from another team since the start of the new league year.
That finally changed late Wednesday afternoon.
As first reported by Yanni Tragellis of WKRC-Ch. 12 in Cincinnati, ex Bengals safety Tycen Anderson agreed to terms on a contract with the Broncos.
A four-year veteran, Anderson was a core special-teamer for the Bengals, playing 75 percent of the team’s snaps in that phase in 2024 and 83 percent of them last season. All but 64 of his 914 career regular-season snaps to date have come on special teams.
Among 68 safeties with at least 300 snaps on kickoff and punt plays last year, Anderson’s Pro Football Focus grade of 83.4 ranked ninth. His presence will give the Broncos three of the top 11 safeties in that metric, joining Devon Key (sixth) and JL Skinner (11th).
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Toledo product has played 41 regular-season games in his career.
BRONCOS TOOK A SWING AT A PAIR OF SPECIAL-TEAMERS IN FREE AGENCY LAST YEAR
Two of the team’s free-agent pickups a year ago were safety Sam Franklin Jr. and wide receiver Trent Sherfield. Both were added primarily for their expected role on special teams.
But Franklin failed to gain traction and ultimately fell behind other safeties in the mix. Key and Skinner surged past him, and Franklin didn’t make it out of training camp. He eventually landed with the Buffalo Bills and signed a three-year contract extension with them last month.
Sherfield stuck as the Broncos’ No. 5 receiver and was active for each of the Broncos’ first 10 regular-season games last year. But his playing time on offense dropped in October, and by the second game of November, his special-teams repetitions fell; he saw just five snaps in that phase during the Week 10 win over Las Vegas. Shortly before the Broncos faced the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11, they waived him.
Eventually, Sherfield landed with the New England Patriots after a stopover with the Arizona Cardinals. He’s now a free agent.