They’ve piled up on wide receivers. However, the tight end and offensive line remain question marks.
On the latter front, the Broncos centre position is “of particular concern,” according to Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay, who proposed a hypothetical trade package to solve the problem.
“Without striking up a deal for a veteran, Denver will be left picking between inexperienced young players like Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth or a failed former starter in Sam Mustipher,” Kay wrote on the thirteenth of May. “This isn’t the type of talent a club wants as a rookie, but it may be improved with a little deal.
“Nate Herbig would make sense for the Broncos as a cost-effective, experienced centre who is still reasonably young and has potential. Acquiring him for the Pittsburgh Steelers might allow the team to develop Herbig alongside Nix for many years to come.”
Kay’s hypothetical transaction would exchange Herbig for a late-round pick.
The Broncos get:
– Nathan Herbig
The Steelers get:
– 2025 sixth-round selection
Kay’s proposal offers for a seventh-round pick in 2025. However, the Steelers already own the rights to the Broncos’ seventh-round pick in 2025. If the pick does not go to Pittsburgh, it returns to the Philadelphia Eagles. Instead, the scenario described above makes use of one of Denver’s two sixth-round picks.
Steelers Depot’s Tyler Wise labelled Herbig, who is entering the final season of a two-year, $8 million contract, as a “people mover.”
The Steelers signed Russell Wilson after the Broncos released him.
Denver is still responsible for $85 million of Wilson’s salary, allowing the Steelers to sign the nine-time Pro Bowler on a veteran minimum wage.
Broncos general manager George Paton may have little interest in making a trade with the Steelers. However, the 6-foot-4, 334-pound Herbig is a low-risk choice that might benefit both the Broncos and Nix.
Nick Herbig might bring experience to the Broncos in a potential trade.
Herbig, an undrafted free agent out of Stanford, played his first three seasons with the Eagles, starting 12 games in 2012.
He has also played with the New York Jets, starting all 11 of his games in 2022. Herbig has started 30 of his 61 career games. However, he only started two games for Pittsburgh last season and is expected to be a backup this season.
This might create an opportunity for the Broncos.
“Herbig may already be on his third team since entering the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2019, but he’s only played 2,239 offensive snaps in his career,” Kay stated.
“While he may not be a Pro Bowl talent, Herbig has the potential to anchor the centre position in the Mile High City. He did record a remarkable 67.6 Pro Football Focus grade last year—a significant improvement than Wattenberg’s 57.9 mark in 2023—and has only gone below that mark once in his five NFL seasons.”
Alex Forsyth makes sense as the starting centre.
Forsyth is inexperienced, having only started full-time at centre in his senior year at Oregon. But there, he became acquainted with Nix and wide receiver Troy Franklin, who are now on the Broncos’ roster.
The pivot praised his old colleagues and would be a viable option as a former seventh-round pick with a year in the system.
Questions about Wattenberg and Mustipher only boost Forsyth’s chances of starting at centre.
That is not to say the Broncos should not attempt to add experienced depth at the position before training camp. However, the prospective arrival of an outside option should not make Forsyth an afterthought.
Leave a Reply