Will Denver bring in more WR help this offseason?​on February 11, 2025 at 12:17 pm

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the Denver Broncos move through their debrief of the 2024 NFL season and start to form the plan for the 2025 season, they are wrestling with one significant item on offense — finding more impact receivers for young quarterback Bo Nix.

“I think all of us feel like we want to make Bo’s life easy, so that when he’s back there, he has options,” wide receiver Courtland Sutton said near the end of the season. “We always want to keep pushing to make sure he feels good about where to go with the ball — that we’ll all make plays for him.”

Sutton seemed like a one-man band at receiver much of the time, leading the Broncos in receptions (81), receiving yards (1,081) and touchdowns (eight). While it isn’t rare for a receiver to lead a team in the three major categories, Sutton’s reception total was 40 more than the Broncos’ next wide receiver (Devaughn Vele). He had 578 yards and two touchdowns more than next wide receiver in those two categories, too (Marvin Mims Jr.).

So as the Broncos search for ways to improve their offense and for Nix to build on an encouraging debut season in which he threw 29 touchdown passes — the second-highest total for a rookie in NFL history — upgrading their wide receiver room this offseason is a high priority.

“There’s nothing that’s ever promised,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “You literally never pick up from where you left off. You rake everything back down to rubble, and you start again. That’s what we plan on doing.”

The Broncos are looking for playmakers throughout the offense this offseason. Payton has publicly said the search for his coveted “joker” player — the multi-task running/receiving option he can move all over the formation — is on. But getting more impact out of non-Sutton receivers to help Nix might supersede the joker quest. Sutton was the only Broncos wide receiver among the league’s top 47 players in percentage of vertical routes run this season (he finished 24th at 40%), while Mims was the only Broncos wide receiver among the league’s top 122 players in yards after the catch (23rd, 470).

The lack of multiple consistent receiving options left the Broncos’ offense stuck in ruts too often. While there were plenty of positives — the Broncos scored more points (425) than they had since 2014 and finished seventh in the NFL in red zone touchdown percentage (62.5%) — their offense was reduced to a slow drip at times.

Only two teams — the Carolina Panthers and the New York Giants — had three-and-out possessions more often than the Broncos (26.3% of drives), and the Broncos were tied for 26th in the league in plays of 10 or more yards (188). So they punted a lot in between touchdowns and often found themselves reduced to slowly grinding out drives. They hope that getting Nix more help can lessen that.

“Bo captured this locker room by the way that he works, by the person that he is and the way that he progressed,” Broncos tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “The improvement from him going forward is just going to be exponential … and we all need to help him more.”

Payton said that he sees growth potential among the Broncos’ current receivers that could potentially repair some of the issues. Vele was a reliable option for Nix in the short and intermediate areas, as his 41 receptions were second to Sutton’s at the position. Mims added some downfield punch when the Broncos upped his snap count in the second half of the season. His two 100-yard receiving games came in the last five weeks of the season, and his 93-yard touchdown reception in a Week 13 win over the Browns was the Broncos’ longest play of the season.

Payton has also said Troy Franklin is on track to provide more impact down the field after a full offseason. Franklin had just one game with more than two receptions during his rookie season but provided a glimpse of his potential in Denver’s wild-card loss to the Bills, catching a 43-yard touchdown pass from Nix to give the Broncos an early 7-0 lead.

Denver will be also looking for outside help to give Nix more playmaking receivers. Broncos general manager George Paton said right after the season that he expected the Broncos to have about $52 million in salary cap space by the time the new league year begins on March 12. The Broncos will have $33 million of dead money against the 2025 salary cap — $32 million as part of quarterback Russell Wilson‘s release last March — but should have at least $38-40 million worth of salary cap space to participate in free agency.

Of the high-profile receivers scheduled to be unrestricted free agents, the Bengals’ Tee Higgins and Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin are the youngest. Higgins, who will be one of the most coveted players regardless of position, is 26 and Godwin will turn 29 at the end of this month.

There will also be veteran receivers on the trade market such as the Rams’ Cooper Kupp and the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel. But both players would bring significant 2025 cap hits. Kupp would cost $12.5 million against the cap if Rams trade him after he gets a roster bonus on the fifth day of league year or $20 million if he is traded before that. Samuel would cost $16 million against the cap with a contract that already also has four voidable years in place after 2025.

They also bring on-field questions, as Kupp turns 32 before the season and Samuel has never played in every game of a season in his career.

The Broncos could also look to the draft. They currently own the No. 20 pick in the first round. Receiver prospects who could be available for the Broncos with their initial pick include Missouri’s Luther Burden III, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka and Texas’ Matthew Golden. Should they address other positions in Round 1, big-framed receivers who fit the profile Payton wants at the position like Illinois’ Pat Bryant, Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins and LSU’s Kyren Lacy could be options on Days 2 and 3.

“We have more information now relative to where we are as a team,” Payton said. “There are a few important pieces obviously that will help us. … It’s a player, it’s two players, it’s the line of scrimmage, it’s the kicking game. We’re not looking backwards; we’re looking ahead.”