The Denver Broncos didn’t have a lot of money to spend when it came to finding a fix to their running back problem.
The Broncos chose to go against most of the expert predictions and not take a running back in the first round of the NFL draft. Instead, they went defense with their first pick and took Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron.
They got their running back in the second round with UCF’s RJ Harvey, who will be a relative steal on a 4-year, $7.35 million contract and will count $2.8 million toward the salary cap in 2025 before that number goes down the next 3 seasons.
Realizing that they could absolutely not pin their entire running game on a rookie and a group of underachieving backups from one year ago, the Broncos went out and made one more fiscally responsible move when they signed veteran J.K. Dobbins to a dirt cheap, 1-year, $2.75 million contract on June 10.
Predominantly Orange’s Lou Scataglia thinks signing Dobbins might be the key to unlocking the entire offense for the Broncos.
“The Denver Broncos did sign a legitimate running back, make no mistake about it,” Scataglia wrote on August 13. “J.K. Dobbins is an extremely talented player but signed for virtually nothing with Denver. Obviously, there might not be a single reason to believe that he can stay on the field for 15 games or more, but the Broncos have been among the least-injured teams in the NFL since Sean Payton took over, so that could bode well for Dobbins, one of the 10 most talented running backs in the NFL.”
What Kind Of Savings Could Broncos Recoup
If both Dobbins and Harvey can produce — say they combine for 2,000 yards of total offense — it would represent a phenomenal savings for the Broncos with a price tag just shy of $6 million for the duo.
Dobbins alone had a career high 905 rushing yards to go with 1,058 yards of total offense and 9 touchdowns for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024 in just 13 games while playing on a 1-year, $1.6 million contract.
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport projected Dobbins would land with the Broncos in March, before the start of the NFL’s free agent cycle.
“Talent has never been the question with J.K. Dobbins,” Davenport wrote on March 7. “He has averaged 5.2 yards per carry for his career and set new career highs across the board in 2024 with the Los Angeles Chargers. However, durability has been a major issue. The 26-year-old has played in 15 games in a season just once in five years, missed the entire 2021 campaign and sat out four games last year with a knee injury.”
Sharp Football Analysis had Dobbins ranked as the No. 5 overall free agent running back available in the 2025 cycle.
If Neither RB Works Out, Here’s What Happens
The Broncos made the playoffs in 2024 in spite of having terrible running backs.
If both Harvey and Dobbins fall flat and Denver is still in playoff contention at the trade deadline, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think the Broncos could make a trade for a player like New York Jets running back Breece Hall.
