The Broncos started free agency with plenty of cap space and the ability to create more if needed, but it’s still worth tracking how their signings get allocated.
Details are still to come on the three big contracts — defensive tackle D.J. Jones, linebacker Dre Greenlaw and safety Talanoa Hufanga — but several of the smaller deals are now figured into the picture.
Here’s what the 2025 cap numbers look like for a handful of returning Broncos.
- QB Jarrett Stidham: $4 million
- OT Matt Peart: $2.75 million
- LS Mitch Fraboni: $1.3 million
Those, according to OTC data, put the Broncos at about $35.4 million in space before the three big deals. Those will take a chunk out of the remaining space — depending on the structure of each, potentially somewhere in the $15 million-$20 million range — but leave Denver with plenty of breathing room going forward.
And, it’s a good time to reiterate, the Broncos will create considerably more space if they come to contract extensions with DL Zach Allen or WR Courtland Sutton later in the offseason.
The 2025 salary cap is jumping from $255.4 million to $279.2 million. The Broncos will roll a modest $1.9 million in cap space to 2025, according to NFLPA data.
Punter change. The Broncos are in the market for a new punter.
They had conversations with Riley Dixon about a new deal, but Dixon on Tuesday agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract with Tampa Bay instead. Now, Denver and new special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi are in the market for a replacement.
There’s at least one option with ties to the area: Ryan Stonehouse, who played at Colorado State and this week was not tendered a contract as a restricted free agent by Tennessee.
He’s got a big leg — he averaged 53.1 yards per punt each of his first two seasons and 50.6 last year — but had a down year from an efficiency standpoint in 2024 after tearing his ACL in December 2023. Stonehouse’s career touchback rate of 12% is nearly twice as high as Dixon’s 6.3% and he ranked near the bottom of the NFL in several other categories last fall.
Stonehouse’s agent, John Perla, also represents Broncos kicker Wil Lutz. Perla told The Post on Tuesday that he thinks pairing Stonehouse and Lutz under new Broncos special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi — who previously had Lutz as his kicker in New Orleans — would make for an exciting option. As of late Tuesday afternoon, though, he had not heard from the Broncos.
Two other quality veteran options came off the board when Johnny Hekker replaced Stonehouse in Tennessee and Sam Martin replaced Hekker in Carolina. Among the small group of accomplished NFL punters still available in addition to Stonehouse: Brian Anger, Pat O’Donnell and Michael Palardy.
More deals official. The Broncos made their three-year contract extensions with Jones and Fraboni official Tuesday. That follows a Monday announcement of their two-year extension for backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham.
Teams cannot formalize or announce contracts with external free agents until the 2025 league year officially starts at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Draft order set. The NFL formally set the draft order for next month’s draft after allocating 35 compensation picks to teams that lost free agents last year. The Broncos were not awarded any comp picks, which are determined by a formula based on who a team lost and who it gained.
Denver’s official set of draft picks are as follows: Round (overall) — R1 (20), R21 (51), R3 (85), R4 (122), R6 (191 from Arizona), R6 (197), R6 (208 from Philadelphia).
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