As the Broncos moved first swiftly and then patiently in free agency this offseason, two truths about their four biggest acquisitions came into focus.<\/p>\n
First, they fortified positions of real need from a 10-7 team that made the playoffs but did not look like a true Super Bowl threat.<\/p>\n
Second, each came with a substantial injury history.<\/p>\n
That quartet so far is a mixed bag heading into Week 3.<\/p>\n
J.K. Dobbins has been the kind of steady, productive lead back Denver has missed for nearly three years since Javonte Williams\u2019 second season was cut short by a devastating knee injury.<\/p>\n
Talanoa Hufanga\u2019s been a force in the back end of Denver\u2019s defense, racking up 21 tackles already and forcing a Week 1 fumble.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the ledger, tight end Evan Engram has just four catches on six targets through two weeks, has been on the injury list with calf and back issues, and now he will not play against the L.A. Chargers on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw hasn\u2019t even made it on the field yet, was knocked out until Week 7 at the earliest after he got placed on injured reserve Saturday, and hasn\u2019t been able to find a way through a quad injury he first suffered in April.<\/p>\n
This week alone, three were on the injury report \u2014 Greenlaw (quad), Engram (back) and Hufanga (chest), though Hufanga\u2019s playing status for Sunday\u2019s game at Los Angeles was never really in question.<\/p>\n
The Broncos hoped for better on the injury front, particularly this early in the season, but the math always suggested they\u2019d have to get lucky in order to have all four players for most or all of the season.<\/p>\n
The injury issues are a big part of the reason each of the four players found himself available in free agency at all, let alone at the price points at which they landed in Denver.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to use the parallel, but my parents loved garage sale-ing,\u201d head coach Sean Payton said in early August after perhaps the best free-agent signing in recent years here, DT Zach Allen, signed a $102 million extension. \u201cThat was their deal \u2014 one thing they enjoyed together. I think I had 10 couches growing up. So they\u2019d come home with a new couch, you\u2019d remove the old one, and you were so excited. It\u2019s a sectional. Until you sat in the left corner and it wiggled, and then you realized why it was a free agent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just have to really do your homework and spend a lot of time on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Broncos came to the conclusion in each scenario that they\u2019d found good fits on all kinds of fronts \u2014 schematic, personality, leadership and talent. To date, none of that appears to be wrong. In each case, Broncos coaches and players have raved about Engram, Hufanga, Greenlaw and Dobbins.<\/p>\n
The one piece of the puzzle Denver knew it was rolling the dice on: Availability.<\/p>\n
The quartet combined to miss 46% of total regular-season games over the 2023-24 seasons, and each has missed at least eight.<\/p>\n
The player of the four who\u2019s missed the most games is Dobbins (20 of 34 between 2023-24), and he is the only one who hasn\u2019t yet popped up on the injury report in the early going this season.<\/p>\n
Dobbins played 15 games as a rookie before suffering a knee injury just like the one Williams endured. He hasn\u2019t played more than 13 games in a season since, and that came last year with the Chargers.<\/p>\n
Greenlaw has been the toughest to figure so far after he injured his quad this spring. The Broncos and Payton acknowledged the injury would cost him several weeks of the summer, but they thought he\u2019d recover fully by the start of training camp. He was playing at the start of camp, but left practice July 31 and has been limited or out since then.<\/p>\n
Payton this week referred to his recovery as \u201ca little nebulous\u201d and it has clearly confounded the Broncos. They thought he\u2019d be back by Week 4 at the latest but now have had to acknowledge the veteran needs more time.<\/p>\n
Greenlaw is also the player Denver invested the least in among their three multi-year signees, signing him to a three-year deal that is essentially a one-year, $11.5 million agreement with outs after that.<\/p>\n
Engram\u2019s got $16.5 million guaranteed on a two-year, $23 million pact \u2014\u00a0that includes $5 million next year \u2014\u00a0and Hufanga got the best deal with $20 million fully guaranteed on a three-year, $39 million contract that can reach as high as $45 million if he hits incentives.<\/p>\n
Dobbins, of course, signed later in the summer on a one-year deal worth $2.065 million that can bump up quite a bit higher with incentives. That, clearly, is minimal risk for Denver.<\/p>\n
By the time the stretch run arrives, perhaps all four will be thriving and powering a Denver team in search of a deep postseason run. The odds suggest that won\u2019t be the case, but the Broncos decided this offseason that the risk was worth the potential reward.<\/p>\n
So far, the verdict: An expected mixed bag that could still pay off but could turn sour quickly.<\/p>\n