The NFL's negotiating window will open on Monday morning, with the official free agency period following soon after, on Wednesday. This will provide the Denver Broncos with their first real opportunity to improve their roster since the season ended.
Any upgrades the Broncos make will be welcomed, of course, but there's something extra sweet about knee-capping a loathed division rival in the process of making the team better. Here are three options, one from each AFC West rival, that the Denver Broncos should pursue.
Trevon Moehrig, S, Las Vegas Raiders
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Safety is a major need for the Denver Broncos this offseason, and one probably best addressed on the veteran market.
As you get closer to the spine of the offense and defense, the game becomes less reliant on one's physical freakishness, as the importance of football IQ, instincts, and mental feel for the game becomes more important. Of course, this is true at quarterback, but it also rings true at the center position, inside linebacker, and, yes, safety.
Broncos Country has seen first-hand, with Justin Simmons starting at safety from 2017 to 2023, how valuable it is to have that high-end mental processor to make sure your secondary play and coverage are sound on almost every single dropback. That's a hard task for a rookie, or even an inexperienced starter, as we saw this past season with P.J. Locke.
The best way for the Broncos to transform the starting safety spot opposite Brandon Jones from a defined weakness into a defensive strength would be to target Las Vegas Raiders free agent safety Tre'von Moehrig.
Moehrig was a top safety prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft, hit the ground running in Las Vegas as a day-one starter and earned a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America's All-Rookie team. From there, Moehrig has further refined skills, and, this past season, was one of the best safeties in the sport, and his athletic talents suggest there's still some untapped potential waiting to be squeezed out of him by the right coach.
Is that Jim Leonhard's music I'm hearing?
Part of what would make the former Horned Frog such an appealing addition is that he's just as strong in coverage as he is against the run, and that versatility is both uncommon and important in Joseph's defensive scheme. The hangups though are that Moehrig has struggled when asked to lock up an opponent one-on-one in man coverage, which Denver's defense would demand, and it's no secret that he's an immensely talented young safety, which will probably make him very expensive.
Justin Reid, S, Kansas City Chiefs
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As appealing as Tre'von Moehrig would be, it's not hard to imagine the Denver Broncos going in a different direction on the veteran safety market and signing a more proven commodity, like Justin Reid.
Reid is coming off an impressive stretch with the Kansas City Chiefs where he was a star player for a Spagnuolo defense that consistently ranked among the league's 10 best. Reid is a high-IQ defender with an excellent understanding of offensive concepts and how to manipulate opposing quarterbacks.
He's also a reliable run defender, boasting the 18th-most run stops of any defensive back last season.
Pairing him with Brandon Jones would help re-create a versatile and physical safety room led by highly instinctive players with veteran experience, much like the team had with Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson.
Reid is also a strong scheme fit for what Vance Joseph loves to do. First, he's a terrific blitzer at the safety position, with the Chiefs regularly using him to create extra pressure in Steve Spagnuolo's blitz-heavy defense. Reid was also leaned on heavily in man coverage, and held up well, even if he wasn't elite.
Poona Ford, DT, Los Angeles Chargers
Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
With each passing day, it appears more and more likely that the Denver Broncos will lose key defensive lineman D.J. Jones, who was the unsung hero of last year's dominant defensive effort.
Jones's ability to single-handedly clog the opponent's run game was vital for a defensive line that didn't offer any other bodies over 300 pounds. Not only did Jones' size and muscle help make up for their weaknesses, but it accentuated their strengths, as it allowed the Zach Allen's and Nik Bonitto's of the world to pin their ears back and pursue the quarterback with reckless abandon. Jones was also a respectable pass-rusher, which helped Denver's pass rush remain fierce on every single down, regardless of down and distance.
Removing that piece from the defensive front, when said unit was already prone to getting bullied by more physical squads, could result in a Jenga-like collapse from the unit, if not properly addressed this offseason.
Enter Poona Ford -- a 310-pound run-stuffing behemoth who can offer precisely what the Broncos need, and do so at a bargain price.
Ford did a marvelous job shoring up the Chargers' run defense as they were forced to rebuild their front seven and had the best season of his career. Paying for that one-year pop is always risky, but Ford was consistently a solid run-stopper during his time in Seattle, and the fact he's a two-down player with minimal pass-rush upside should put a hard ceiling on just how expensive he can really get.