Broncos Roundtable: Pick one non-QB from the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers to add to Denver’s roster for the rest of their career

As Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs head to their fourth Super Bowl in the past five seasons, the Denver Broncos will, once again, be watching the game from home.

On the other side, the San Francisco 49ers might as well be called the Colorado 49ers with all of their connections to the Broncos and Denver. Kyle Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey grew up in Colorado as their dads were becoming Broncos legends, while John Lynch became a Ring of Fame player for the team.

While Denver can’t go back to 2017 and hire Kyle Shanahan over Vance Joseph, we can dream about which player from each team in the Super Bowl would benefit Sean Payton and the Broncos the most.

Outside of quarterbacks, which Chief and 49er would you steal for the Broncos for the rest of their career?

Take everything into consideration, from age, contract and positional value. Let us know which player from each team you would add to Denver’s roster in the comment section below.

Which player not named Patrick Mahomes or Brock Purdy would you steal from the Chiefs and 49ers to add to the Broncos?

Zac: 49ers’ Nick Bosa — The Broncos desperately need playmakers on offense and San Francisco is the perfect team to pluck that from. But passing up on Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel & Brandon Aiyuk shows just how special Bosa is.

Unless it was 2015 and the Broncos had Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, the answer here has to be landing the 26-year-old All-Pro pass rusher.

Chiefs’ Trent McDuffie — I don’t love this pick. In fact, there’s no pick on the Chiefs, besides obviously Patrick Mahomes, that I love. Travis Kelce and Chris Jones would be excellent picks if it weren’t for their age. But with retirement rumors surrounding Kelce, and Jones about to be 30, it wouldn’t be worth it for either.

Landing on a First-team All-Pro cornerback that’s only 23 years old isn’t a bad fallback option. To have two 23-year-old All-Pro cornerbacks with McDuffie and Pat Surtain II for the next decade wouldn’t be too shabby at all. In fact, I now feel much better about this pick. I just wish it somehow helped the offense.

Henry: 49ers’ Nick Bosa — Bosa wasn’t at his best this season, but his 10.5 sacks were better than any Bronco has produced in the recent past. His 18.5 sacks in 2022 would have tied the Broncos’ all-time single-season record, and that number is more indicative of the player Bosa will be.

I wanted to take George Kittle, but I can’t justify a 30-year-old when a 27-year-old All-Pro at a more important position is available. Kittle has a half-decade left and would push the Broncos’ offense forward significantly in the run game and the passing game. There’s a case to be made that he is more likely to push the Broncos into the playoffs than Bosa, but I can’t quite pull the trigger.

Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey — Once again, tight end is a consideration. But Travis Kelce may retire after the Super Bowl, so adding him to the team would be an unnecessary gamble.

Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed is a consideration here, but I’ll take the stud center from the Chiefs instead. The 24-year-old Humphrey could man the middle of the Broncos’ offensive line for the next decade.

RK: 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey — The Broncos are completely devoid of true playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and Christian McCaffrey is arguably the most electric player in that category in the league. McCaffrey’s ability to beat defenses on the ground and as a receiver would instantly improve Denver’s offense.

Conventional wisdom would say you go with Nick Bosa as the youngest of the Niners’ stars but to be completely honest it just sounds way more fun to have CMC.

Chiefs’ Chris Jones — Other than Mahomes, Chris Jones is KC’s most dominant player. Jones would bring the Broncos interior pressure that they havent had since the Super Bowl 50 defense. At 29, age is a factor here but Jones is showing no signs of slowing down and if we’re being honest, KC doesn’t have much young talent.

I considered going with Creed Humphrey here as he is defnitely their best young player, but I’ll take the positional value provided by Jones in this case.