Broncos Roundtable: What’s Denver and Sean Payton’s dream free agent signing?

Christmas and the New Year in the NFL are right around the corner. And, yes, it’s March.

On Wednesday, Mar. 13 at 2:00 p.m. MST, the 2024 new league year officially begins, which means free agency officially opens up.

But on Monday, Mar. 11 at 10:00 a.m. MST, the free agent frenzy unofficially begins, with the legal tampering period beginning. At this time, NFL teams may agree to deals with free agents, but the contracts must wait to be officially signed until Wednesday.

Last year, the Denver Broncos spent more than any team in the entire NFL during free agency, dropping over $200 million in contracts.

Greg Penner and George Paton have since warned Broncos Country to not expect that this year.

As Sean Payton builds his free agent list, who is at the top? Who would be the ideal signing in free agency for the Broncos?

The DNVR Broncos Crew debates.

Who would be the Broncos’ dream free agent signing?

Zac: Kirk Cousins — Outside of an elite quarterback, and putting his Achilles injury aside, Kirk Cousins might actually be the perfect quarterback for Sean Payton.

Payton wants a quarterback that can read defenses, progress through his reads quickly and win from the pocket. Just like Drew Brees, Cousins checks all of those boxes with flying colors.

Among realistic quarterback options, Cousins would give the Broncos the best chance at making the playoffs next year. In fact, if they land Captain Kirk, they will end their playoff drought and make the postseason for the first time since winning Super Bowl 50.

There are a few downsides to Cousins. First, he is 35 years old. That isn’t as big of a deal for the Broncos, however, since Payton is in Denver to win now, not win for the future.

Second, Cousins is coming off an Achilles injury that ended his 2023 season. That could, however, work in the Broncos’ favor as it could drive his price tag down a bit.

With Russell Wilson’s massive dead cap, the Broncos would be able to afford Cousins on a longer-term deal by taking smaller cap hits in the first two years of the deal and bigger hits at the end of the contract.

Cousins wouldn’t be the long-term answer for the Broncos. But he would get them to the playoffs this year. No other free agent would do that.

I don’t expect the Broncos to go after Cousins, but a man can dream.

Henry: Geno Stone — Honestly, it’s tough for me to find a dream signing. The good players cost more than I want the Broncos to pay. The not-good players aren’t any good.

I’m going with value.

The free-agent class of safeties features 15-20 guys who belong in a starting lineup. With so many options on the board, the Broncos should be able to find a decent value somewhere in the middle of the group.

With PJ Locke, Caden Sterns, JL Skinner and Delarrin Turner-Yell on the roster, the Broncos have enough to roll into a rebuilding season, but there’s plenty of room to add a starter.

I chose Geno Stone, 24, of the Ravens. He became a full-time starter this season, the final of his rookie year, and picked off seven passes, the second-most in the NFL.

RK: Chase Young — Let me start by saying my dream free agent signing for the Broncos is nobody. I admit I’m being a bit facetious here but I do believe the best thing the Broncos can do is sit back, fill some holes with tier-two or three free agents, take their medicine for a season while they eat the Russell Wilson contract and prepare to attack the rebuild aggressively through the draft.

With that said, if Denver is going to splurge on any free agent, I think they should do it with the idea that they are going to keep this player around for a long time. At 24 years old, Young is tied for the youngest free agent on the market. The Broncos would be gambling a bit on his upside, but if they hit, they could end up getting a massive bargain at one of the most valuable positions in football and that’s the type of signing that could make sense for Denver.

If you get Young on a reasonable contract in the 10-15 million range and are able to unlock his former No. 1 overall pick potential, you could have a top-tier answer at a high value position for a long time.

Like I said, I don’t love the idea of the Broncos going big in free agency at all, but if they do, I’d like to see them go after youth and upside so whoever they sign is still a big part of the team when they get back to contending.