The Denver Broncos had to swallow their pride when standout center Lloyd Cushenberry left in free agency following the 2023 season, lured away by the Tennessee Titans and a 4-year, $50 million contract.
The financially-challenged Broncos, facing $85 million in dead cap space over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, couldn’t afford to pay everyone they wanted in the offseason. Cushenberry’s exit was an unfortunate side effect.
Now, the future is bright in Denver with a star rookie quarterback in Bo Nix and key pieces in place around him for the long term. That was evidenced by 2 huge deals before the 2024 season — signing Quinn Meinerz to a 4-year, $72 million contract extension and NFL All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II to a 4-year, $96 million contract extension.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine thinks the Broncos could continue to fill out their roster by replacing Cushenberry with Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman in free agency in 2025.
Dalman has only played 4 games in 2024 — he played in the first 3 games before injuring his ankle then returned for a Week 11 loss to the Broncos.
“Drew Dalman will have to be considered if the Broncos are interested in upgrading the position,” Ballentine wrote. “He has gone through his own growing pains and now has to be considered an asset for the Falcons offensive line. He has missed all but (four) games this year due to injury, but he’s only 26 and just hitting his prime.”
Calculating What Dalman Might Cost in Free Agency
Dalman made the “10 NFL Players Who Deserve to Get Paid in 2025” list from Heavy.com’s Daniel Arwas, coming in at No. 4 and as the highest ranked offensive lineman to make the cut.
“Drew Dalman has quietly become one of the top centers in the game over the past couple of years, grading out with a fantastic 78.9 PFF grade in 2024,” Arwas wrote on November 8. “With his rookie contract up in 2021, barring injury or tragic event, Dalman can almost start counting his cash.”
Dalman was a fourth round pick (No. 114 overall) by the Falcons in the 2021 NFL draft after he was a 2-time All-Pac-12 pick at Stanford. He played in all 17 games as a backup as a rookie before becoming the Falcons’ full-time starter in 2022. He’s also a second generation NFL player. His father, offensive lineman Chris Dalman, was also an All-Pac-12 pick at Stanford and played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1993 to 2000, winning a Super Bowl in 1994.
How much the Broncos might have to pay Dalman could be anybody’s guess. According to Over the Cap, the top 5 highest paid centers have an average contract value of $57 million while the next 5 highest paid centers have an average contract value of $22 million.
One starting point for the Broncos might be the 3-year, $30 million contract signed by Washington Commanders center Tyler Biadasz in March 2024.
Wattenberg Hasn’t Made Most of Opportunity
Cushenberry’s replacement, Luke Wattenberg, has started 8 games for the Broncos in 2024 — he missed 4 games with an ankle injury — but has underwhelmed.
PFF currently has Dalman with a 61.4 grade for 2024. Although he hasn’t allowed any sacks, he’s also been called for 4 penalties.
“(The Broncos) have to go to work this offseason to make sure Nix has everything he needs to succeed,” Ballentine wrote. “That could involve a change at the pivot where Luke Wattenberg just hasn’t secured the job.”
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This article was originally published on Heavy.com
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