The Denver Broncos made one of the biggest investments in franchise history when they decided to sign cornerback Patrick Surtain II to a 4-year, $96 million contract extension in September 2024, making him one of the highest paid cornerbacks in NFL history.
That investment has already paid off in some pretty amazing ways after Surtain led the Broncos to the postseason for the first time since the 2015 season and became just the second player in franchise history to be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Now, the Broncos need to take steps to protect that investment.
USA Today’s Tyler Dragon thinks the best way to do that might be to sign San Francisco 49ers safety and NFL All-Pro Talanoa Hufanga in free agency.
Injuries to Hufanga are a concern, but the Broncos have $32 million in dead cap space in 2025 so that might make signing the former USC star a more reasonable venture.
“Hufanga has been banged up the last two seasons, playing just a combined 17 games while dealing with a torn ACL and other injuries,” Dragon wrote. “Hufanga is one of the NFL’s better safeties when he’s on the field. Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Pat Surtain and Hufanga would be a scary duo in Denver’s defensive backfield.”
From Small Town Oregon to Big Time NFL Star
Hufanga went from tiny Crescent Valley High School — a rural high school north of Corvallis, Oregon — to becoming one of the nation’s top high school football players and was named U.S. Army All-American in 2018.
From there, Hufanga starred at USC from 2018 to 2020, where he was a 2-time All-Pac-12 selection, unanimous All-American and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2020 with 62 tackles, 4 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles along with an interception return for a touchdown.
The 49ers drafted Hufanga in the fifth round (No. 180 overall) in the 2021 NFL draft and signed him to a 4-year, $3.7 million contract. Hufanga started 3 games as a rookie in 2021 then was one of the NFL’s best safeties in 2022, starting all 17 games with 97 tackles, 4 interceptions, 9 pass deflections and 2 forced fumbles.
The last 2 seasons have set Hufanga’s career — and bank account — back considerably. He only played 10 games in 2023 after he tore his ACL in Week 11 and missed 10 games in 2024 with wrist and ankle injuries.
Spotrac currently has Hufanga’s market value in the range of a 3-year, $35.7 million contract — a number the Broncos could likely get him to come down on because of his injury history and might be smart to start with an offer more along the lines of a 2-year, $25 million contract offer.
Broncos Have Elite Secondary With Surtain, Moss
The Broncos might be in a place where drafting a safety in the later rounds of the 2025 NFL draft is more appealing than rolling the dice on Hufanga because of the talent they already have in place in the secondary.
Along with Surtain’s brilliant 2024 season, the Broncos also saw the emergence of second-year cornerback Riley Moss as a high-level starter. Moss, a third round pick (No. 83 overall) out of Iowa in the 2023 NFL draft, started 14 games in 2024 with 86 tackles, 1 interception, 8 pass deflection and 1 forced fumble.
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