One of the most interesting players the Denver Broncos picked in the 2025 NFL Draft is seventh-round tight end Caleb Lohner, a former basketball player out of Utah. Lohner is very physically and athletically gifted at 6-foot-8, 256 pounds with an 8.83 on the RAS scale.
It's no wonder that the Broncos weren't the only team interested in Lohner during the draft, but other teams couldn't keep their desire to get him behind closed doors. The Broncos reportedly faced some stiff competition from the Indianapolis Colts to get Lohner, as the Colts had apparently reached a verbal agreement with the Draft sleeper to sign after the draft as an undrafted free agent.
Unfortunately for them, the Broncos still had a pick in the 7th round...
Broncos steal Caleb Lohner after catching wind of Colts interest
We'll undoubtedly be following the career trajectory of Lohner with even greater intrigue now. The last couple of rounds of the NFL Draft are undoubtedly a frenzy of activity where players and agents are getting called to make agreements on UDFAs as soon as the draft reaches a conclusion. This is part of the reason why we are all catching wind of reports of UDFAs signing while general managers and coaches are sitting at a podium answering questions from the media.
The work is largely done.
But you've got to be careful about what gets out there, so timing is everything. The Broncos undoubtedly knew that the Colts had reached an agreement with Lohner before using a pick on him in the seventh round, and they weren't going to risk getting into a bidding war over a guy who perhaps had aims on playing somewhere else.
Lohner is going to be a fascinating player to monitor over the course of Denver Broncos OTAs. If there's any position where there's sort of a clear path for a player like this to come in and potentially make an impact, it's at the tight end spot.
The Broncos signed the oft-injured Evan Engram as their TE1 this offseason, but the depth behind Engram remains just the holdovers from last year. And it's well-documented at this point that the Broncos' tight ends struggled as pass catchers with Adam Trautman leading the way with 188 receiving yards and Lucas Krull leading the position group with 19 receptions.
Lohner could be a sleeper candidate to make the roster and the Broncos might have the Colts to thank for giving away their plans.
