The Denver Broncos may have made a mistake selecting cornerback Jahdae Barron in the 1st round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
That doesn’t mean they’re immune to making more mistakes when it comes to the cornerback position, including a disastrous proposed trade from Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton that swaps 17-game starter Riley Moss for a Day 2 pick.
“This seems like a questionable move, but Denver selected Jahdae Barron in the first round of the 2025 draft,” Moton wrote on July 14. “If the Broncos don’t intend to sign Moss to an extension in a contract year, they should trade him at peak value and elevate Barron on the depth chart before Week 1. In 2025, Moss started in all 17 games, tying Carolina Panthers cornerback Michael Jackson for a league-leading 19 pass breakups. On the trade block, he could draw interest from multiple suitors in need of a starter on the boundary.”
If Moton doesn’t specify a team the Broncos should send Moss to, that’s on purpose. It’s not unrealistic to think, if the Broncos really were putting Moss on the trade market, that almost every NFL team would be willing to give up a 2nd or 3rd round pick in exchange for a proven starting cornerback who is only 26 years old and just coming into his prime.
Broncos Need to Trade Riley Moss or Pay Him
The Broncos have an ownership group with no limits when it comes to money. The Penner-Walton family includes some of the richest people in the world.
All of that wealth doesn’t get them out of sticking to the NFL’s salary cap, and the Broncos are dragging their feet when it comes to a contract extension with arguably the most underrated player on their defense in Moss.
Moss has been the full-time starter opposite NFL All-Pro Patrick Surtain II for the last 2 seasons and started all 17 games in 2025. That didn’t stop the Broncos from using their 2025 1st-round pick (No. 20 overall) on Barron.
In all likelihood, the Broncos are holding off on paying Moss until they see how Barron fares to start this season. As a rookie, he was unable to beat out Moss or starting nickel cornerback and former undrafted free agent Ja’Quan McMillian for playing time.
“The Broncos have a list of starters poised for unrestricted free agency after the 2026 season: tight end Evan Engram, guard Ben Powers, safety Brandon Jones, cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian and wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr.,” ESPN’s Jeff Legwold wrote on June 24. “But Moss has played 1,924 snaps over the past two seasons, more than any other Denver player in that timeframe, and he has held off 2025 first-rounder Jahdae Barron thus far. Barron will be the expected solution if the Broncos don’t keep both McMillian and Moss moving forward. The Broncos have publicly expressed the importance of having both in their defense, but there hasn’t been much movement for extensions. Denver … has decisions to make with three secondary starters in the nickel package (Moss, Jones and McMillian).”
Riley Moss Projected for 3-Year, $55M Extension
The Broncos are already doing what the best NFL teams do — signing their proven starters to contract extensions before they hit the open market. This saves them a tremendous amount of money.
In May, the DNVR Denver Broncos Podcast predicted Moss is in line for a 3-year, $55 million extension, although the Broncos might be smart to start with something more along the lines of offering a 3-year, $45 million extension.
From DNVR: “For Riley, the projection is 3 years, $55 million … that’s probably about the ceiling right now. He’s certainly not getting $20 million per year. Even $18 million is a little too close to that, so we’re erring on the high side. If these guys hit the open market next year, they’re getting this kind of money. You do get a little bit of a discount when you sign them early, so there’s no reason it wouldn’t happen here.”
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