Demoted Starter Breaks Silence Amid Broncos Trade Deadline Speculation

Getty Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos looks on versus the Carolina Panthers.

The Denver Broncos improved to 5-3 on the season but the trade deadline continued to be a storyline even in the immediate aftermath of their latest victory.

Several Broncos players have come up in trade speculation and one of them – edge defender Baron Browning – addressed the elephant in the room. Browning, in his fourth year with the Broncos, opened the regular season as the starter.

A foot issue landed Browning on injured reserve, opening the door for Nik Bonitto to start.

Bonitto is entrenched as the starter, potentially leaving Browning as the odd man out as the trade deadline nears.

“I can only control what I can control,’’ Browning said, per 9News’ Mike Klis wrote on October 27. “I can’t control what happens in the future, I have to stay in the moment. I do what I can to help this team win games. I would like to stay here. I don’t want to leave but some things are out of my control.”

“A converted off-the-ball LB who had 4.5 sacks last year, Browning’s playing time has dwindled in Denver and he’s in a contract year,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero wrote on October 26. “He could be available. Denver has depth at the position.”

Jonathon Cooper bookends Bonitto, who leads the Broncos with 6.0 sacks, in the Broncos’ starting lineup.

The Broncos also have rookie fourth-round pick Jonah Elliss.

Browning out-snapped both Bonitto and Elliss in the Broncos’ win over the Carolina Panthers. However, Browning turned his increased reps into 1 tackle. Bonitto and Cooper both recorded sacks in the contest.

Insiders List Broncos Starter Among Potential Trade Candidates

Pelissero and Rapoport also named Cooper as a potential trade candidate. But Klis argues the Broncos could go in a different direction.

“It makes more sense to extend the former seventh-round draft pick with a new contract than trade him away,” Klis wrote. “Cooper picked up another sack Sunday, giving him 5.5 through eight games. A seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft, Cooper as a four-year starter is arguably the best value pick Broncos’ general manager George Paton has made.”

Cooper set a career-high with 8.5 sacks in 2023, leading the team while starting all 17 games.

He is in the final year of a four-year, $3.5 million contract. But Browning is also in the final year of his four-year, $4.6 million pact. Bonitto is in Year 3 of a four-year, $5.8 million deal.

Broncos Urged to Trade for Tight End

The Broncos could also be buyers at the trade deadline. They again got little from the tight end position versus the Panthers. The Denver Post’s Troy Renck argued before the game that the Broncos should trade for Cleveland Browns star David Njoku.

He compared it to the organization’s trade with the San Francisco 49ers for Vernon Davis in 2015; one of the precursors to their Super Bowl run.

“I wrote about this week at The Denver Post: Get Bo off the tightrope, you need to add him a tight end in the passing game,” Renck said on “The Broncos Podcast With Troy Renck” on October 25. “If you go get David Njoku from the Cleveland Browns – and I get it. The history of the Broncos isn’t to make big moves to get a tight end. But they did it once in 15 with Vernon Davis.

“They’re getting 12% of the targets from the tight end room. There’s 20 tight ends this season that have more targets than that.”

The Broncos’ tight ends have 24 receptions for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns on the season.

Both scores came versus the Panthers, with blocking tight end Adam Trautman posting a 4-85-1 line and H-back Nate Adkins snagging a three-yard score on his lone reception. Njoku has 25 receptions for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns in 2024. The trade deadline is November 5.