Both are entering contract years, with 2023 third-round pick Moss on the final year of his rookie deal and former undrafted grinder McMillian playing 2026 on a one-year tender<\/a>. Denver, of course, already has former Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II on a long-term deal that\u2019s set to see its cap hit increase each year through 2029. And with Barron waiting in the wings, the Broncos are approaching an unmistakable reality in their cornerback room come training camp.<\/p>\n \u201cAt some point, they\u2019re gonna be like, \u2018Look, we can\u2019t pay three of \u2018em,’\u201d one NFL agent told The Denver Post.<\/p>\n This is not an actual issue. More of a decision. The Broncos drafted Barron in the first round in 2025 because he was the best player left on their board \u2014\u00a0 a \u201cluxury\u201d pick, as former defensive-passing game coordinator Jim Leonhard told The Post earlier this spring<\/a>. At every turn, through a rookie season in which Barron played just 30% of Denver\u2019s regular-season defensive snaps, the Broncos have justified that pick by pointing to the importance of depth at cornerback.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at today\u2019s NFL with the DBs and corners especially, they\u2019re tough to find in the offseason without, like, large compensation,\u201d head coach Sean Payton said in early May, asked on future plans for the cornerback room. \u201cSo, all of that will kinda work its way \u2014 sort itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a great problem to have, as Broncos general manager George Paton said at this year\u2019s NFL Combine. A \u201cchampagne problem,\u201d as an agent told The Denver Post. And Barron gives Denver considerable negotiating leverage to offer team-friendly deals to McMillian and Moss, with the threat that the rising second-year cornerback could simply take one of their starting jobs in training camp, thereby decreasing their market heading into next year\u2019s free agency.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll use their champagne problem of depth,\u201d the agent told The Post, anticipating the Broncos\u2019 potential negotiating strategy, \u201cto scare everybody involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Paton said at February\u2019s combine that the Broncos still believe Barron can play both inside and outside. And after McMillian had a fringe All-Pro-level season at nickel last year, it\u2019d make sense for Denver\u2019s staff to see if Barron can compete through the offseason and training camp with Moss for the Broncos\u2019 CB2 job opposite Surtain. A source with direct knowledge of the Broncos\u2019 thinking told The Post earlier this spring that Payton, indeed, will likely \u201cpush\u201d for Barron to compete with Moss there.<\/p>\n That move would make sense, too, in terms of league valuation. The market for nickel cornerbacks, while steadily increasing with inflation, isn\u2019t close to the demand for proven outside cornerbacks. In 2025, the Bears made Kyler Gordon the highest-paid nickel CB in the league on an extension worth $13.3 million per year<\/a>. Given his production, McMillian could reasonably angle for $15 to $17 million annually from Denver \u2014 but may not have much leverage with the open market. Multiple league sources who spoke to The Post pointed out that nickel cornerbacks only carry high value for teams that use them often in their schemes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a Cover 2 team that\u2019s just playing a lot of three linebackers, two outside corners, two safeties, and you only bring in the nickel very rarely, then that guy\u2019s not very valuable,\u201d one agent told The Post.<\/p>\n By contrast, league demand for proven outside corners is skyrocketing. In early March, the Rams traded for Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie and promptly blew the ceiling off the market with a four-year extension worth $31 million annually. A rising tide will lift all boats, and the Titans handed 27-year-old former Saints corner Alontae Taylor \u2014 who produced similarly to Moss in 2025 \u2014 a three-year deal at an average base value of $19.3 million.<\/p>\n Name Riley Moss Alontae Taylor If the Broncos think Barron can beat out Moss in camp, they could look to trade Moss in August for draft value (similar to rookie receiver Pat Bryant pushing Devaughn Vele in last year\u2019s training camp)<\/a> or simply roll into the year with him as a high-end backup. If Moss were to start again in 2026 and put together a strong year opposite Surtain, though, he could angle for much more on the open market in 2027 than the Broncos would be willing to pay him (similar to John Franklin-Myers\u2019 departure this offseason<\/a>).<\/p>\n Of course, both paths turn in the Broncos\u2019 short-term favor, as they\u2019ve set themselves up with a litany of options at one of the NFL\u2019s most important positions heading into a year with Super Bowl expectations. Reasonably, they could also elect to simply not pay or move either McMillian or Moss and simply let the string play out in case of injury \u2014 which materialized last year, as the Broncos quickly stabilized when Surtain was hurt for three games midseason.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you lose a guy like Pat, and you draft to your strengths, that\u2019s one of the reasons you do that,\u201d Payton said last winter.<\/p>\n Drafting to strengths also creates surplus, though. And if the Broncos simply sit on their stash, it could cost them soon enough.<\/p>\n![\"Ja'Quan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TDP-L-BRONCOS-CHARGERSAO2_1688x.jpg\")
Ja’Quan McMillian (29) of the Denver Broncos tackles Keenan Allen (13) of the Los Angeles Chargers during the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, January 4, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n
\nAge
\nHeight
\nWeight
\n2025 Games
\nTackles
\nInterceptions
\nPasses Defensed
\nPenalties
\nQB Rating Against<\/p>\n
\n26
\n6-0
\n193
\n17
\n80
\n1
\n19
\n12
\n88.2<\/p>\n
\n27
\n6-0
\n199
\n17
\n83
\n2
\n11
\n4
\n98.2<\/p>\n