Denver's Razing of the Draft Draftees Destroys Fan Sentiments
DENVER , CO - JANUARY 25: Alex Singleton (49) of the Denver Broncos celebrates a tackle during the fourth quarter of the New England Patriots' 10-7 AFC Championship Game win at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Sunday, January 25, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) | Denver Post via Getty Images Based on results of our FanDuel SB Nation Reacts survey earlier this week, it is pretty clear what Denver fans think of the team signing ONLY Broncos free agents. Not thrilled.
At the time of the survey, the Broncos had re-signed Alex Palczewski, Adam Trautman, Alex Singleton, Nate Adkins, and Justin Strnad. Since then, they have added back Sam Ehlinger, Lucas Krull, Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, Matt Henningsen, Adam Prentice and Jaleel McLaughlin — and Ja’Quan McMillian signed his tender. I wonder if those signings would have added to the angst reflected in the 72%?
But it’s not just fans who seem underwhelmed, if not slightly disappointed. Plenty of beat writers and pundits have seemed surprised at the perceived lack of aggression to get some of the big names out there, especially running backs like Travis Etienne, Kenneth Walker III and Breece Hall. But Walker went to the Chiefs while Hall was franchise tagged and Etienne wanted to go play on home turf.
But perhaps none of us should have been surprised as George Paton hinted at keeping most of the team’s own FAs. “We have to be urgent. We don’t control a lot in free agency.
Guys can leave. I think I said in January that we are going to be urgent and aggressive in our approach [with] no stone unturned. We are looking at everything,” Paton said at the NFL Combine.