Pro Football Rumors
The Broncos drafted a cornerback in the first round last year despite no apparent need at the position. Indeed, Denver’s 14-3 season unfolded with Patrick Surtain, Riley Moss and Ja’Quan McMillian as the top three corners. Jahdae Barron operated as the clear No. 4, seeing his snaps limited.
This came after Barron lost a training camp competition with McMillian for the slot corner job. Barron looks set to compete at a different position this summer. We heard at the outset of Broncos OTAs that Barron — chosen 20th overall in 2025 — would see offseason time at outside corner, and the team made good on that plan during the voluntary workouts and mandatory minicamp. Barron will now move into position to vie for Moss’ job on the outside, the Denver Post’s Luca Evans writes.
Moss moved into the Broncos’ starting lineup in his second season, taking over after seeing minimal time during an injury-marred rookie campaign. The former third-round pick has shown promise while being frequently targeted, as quarterbacks aim to avoid testing Surtain often (the high target count helped Moss lead the NFL with 19 passes defensed last season).
Moss has struggled with penalties during an up-and-down run as Surtain’s top sidekick. Pro Football Focus ranked Moss 49th among CB regulars last season; that marked a significant jump from his 87th-place assessment in 2024. But the Iowa product may not be long for Denver.
McMillian has begun extension talks with the Broncos, who saw him elevate his play in a 2025 season that featured the memorable interception that denied the Bills a pivotal Josh Allen-to-Brandin Cooks strike in overtime of the teams’ divisional-round matchup. The Broncos then applied a second-round RFA tender to McMillian, who joins Moss as a contract-year player. With Surtain on a four-year, $96MM extension — a team-friendly deal the Broncos have already augmented via a $5MM raise — it will be difficult to envision the team paying two more cornerbacks. It may be a McMillian-or-Moss decision, with the player who doesn’t land an extension heading to free agency.
The Broncos have been consistent in extending core players during the past two summers. Last year, they re-upped Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen and Courtland Sutton. In 2024, the team paid Surtain and Quinn Meinerz. In-season extensions with Luke Wattenberg, Wil Lutz, Malcolm Roach, Jonathon Cooper and Garett Bolles have also occurred over the past two years. McMillian profiles as a candidate to be paid on a similar timeline, and with the market for pure slot CBs well south of their boundary counterparts, the Broncos paying McMillian while letting Moss walk may be the more cost-effective solution.
Barron represents a way for the team to at least carry 2027 insurance against Moss departing. I mentioned this as a long-term possibility in PFR’s Broncos Offseason Outlook offering, and it appears Barron — the 2024 Thorpe Award winner — will have a chance to at least push Moss early. Barron is signed through the 2028 season, with the Broncos having...
