Denver Broncos: Do they still need help at tight end?

By Jonathan George | Mar 11, 2015

The Denver Broncos definitely took some heavy hits on the first day of free agency. It was bad enough that they lost lineman Orlando Franklin to the divisional rival San Diego Chargers. But arguably the worst news of the day was that their hugely-talented starting tight end Julius Thomas (via ESPN’s Michael DiRocco) would sign a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The signing will leave a huge void in Denver in terms of production.

Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Thomas was a big time target for Peyton Manning over the last two years, totaling 24 touchdowns while lining up on the end of the line as well as in a wide out capacity. His versatility will sorely be missed, especially when you consider he was still coming into the prime of his career.

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The answer that the Broncos came up with to address the loss of Thomas looks pretty underwhelming, at least at this point in 2015. Per ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, they picked up veteran Owen Daniels from the Baltimore Ravens and re-signed Virgil Green, who was a back-up tight end to Thomas over the last several seasons in Denver. In terms of production, the drop off is pretty dramatic from Thomas to the battery of Daniels and Green.

While Daniels had a decent season in Baltimore filling in for an injured Dennis Pitta in 2014, amassing almost 50 receptions for over 500 yards. But he ended up with only four touchdowns the entire season, and combined with Green’s one touchdown last season still came up well short of Thomas’ 12 scores. Denver fans have to hope that the Peyton Manning effect will improve those numbers, but talent like Thomas’ doesn’t come around every year.

The problem for the Broncos when it came to Thomas was that they just couldn’t afford the nearly $9 million dollar a year price tag he commanded on the open market, and in fact didn’t offer him a contact. They already have too much money tied up in veteran players, and even with Peyton Manning’s agreed-upon pay cut Denver was immediately priced out of the Thomas sweepstakes by the Jaguars.

It appears at this point that the Broncos will be looking to see who at the tight end position can separate themselves from the others when Training Camp opens. It seems highly unlikely that they will name Daniels the teams immediate starter, and as Virgil Green has less than 25 career receptions over his four-year career, he still has a lot to prove in terms of being a full-time starter.

There are still options at the tight end position for the Broncos if they want to add a play-maker. Whether they want to look at a guy like Jordan Cameron (who played in just 10 games for the Browns last year) or the draft, there is still plenty of time to do so.

Unless Daniels finds the fountain of youth or Green explodes on the scene out of nowhere, the Broncos might look back at the loss of Thomas as a huge mistake. At this point, it looks like it was.

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