Once again, the Denver Broncos faltered in the regular season and failed to punch a ticket to the playoffs. They finished the 2021 NFL season last in the AFC West, just like they did a season before, with a 7-10 record. While that’s an improvement from their 5-11 slate in 2020, it really amounts to nothing outside of a marginally better position in the 2021 NFL Draft. If the Broncos were to make a big leap in the 2022 NFL season, then they will need to plug the many holes on the team, which they could also do by means of subtraction. 

Perhaps the Broncos’ biggest priority in the offseason is to find a quarterback who could really stabilize the offense and maximize the talent downfield, but the defense also needs some adjustments. That’s even if the Broncos finished the regular season ranked second in the NFL in scoring defense, with just 18.8 points per game. With that said, let’s jump straight into the surprise player that the Broncos could cut in the offseason.

1 surprise roster cut for the Denver Broncos in the offseason

Prior to the 2021 NFL season, the Broncos made quite a splash in the cornerback market by adding the pair of Kyle Fuller and Ronald Darby. Fuller was signed to a one-year deal worth $9 million, while Darby was inked to a three-year contract amounting to $30 million. Those moves got people buzzing, but several months later, Fuller might be on his way out of Denver, as he is a pending free agent, while Darby is someone who failed to live up to his expectations in 2021. The Broncos could be better off in the long run if they cut him now and just search for a replacement somewhere else. The 2022 NFL Draft would be an avenue for the Broncos to find help for Surtain and company in the secondary.

Make no mistake about it. Darby is a solid cornerback who can get things done downfield, but the money and the length of the contract the Broncos signed him to appear to be way above his true value. Alex Kay of Bleacher Report had already foreseen this way back in April 2021, describing the Broncos’ signing of Darby as the worst for the team that year.

To his credit, Darby entered free agency on the heels of one of his better seasons as a pro, earning a 76.0 grade from PFF and standing out as an excellent defender in man coverage for the Washington Football Team. He saw the field for over 1,000 snaps, accounting for 96 percent of his team's defensive snaps—a huge jump from the 50 percent he saw with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019.

While Darby absolutely deserves accolades for that performance, relying on a corner to maintain a high level of play has burned teams before and could easily cause the Broncos to regret this long-term deal.

While Darby hasn’t been especially bad in the 2021 NFL season, he seems to be incapable of staying healthy.  Darby has played a complete campaign just once in his NFL career, and that was the year prior he joined the Broncos. That certainly played a part in Denver’s decision to hand him that three-year contract.

The Broncos didn’t have to wait for long before witnessing firsthand the brittleness of Darby’s body, as the cornerback suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 against the New York Giants. Darby would land on the injured reserve because of that injury and won’t return to action until Week 6.  A shoulder injury also kept Darby out for the final two games of the regular season.

Darby concluded his first year with the Broncos having played in only 11 games (all starts) with zero interceptions and six passes defended. Pro Football Focus ranked him just 72nd overall among all qualified cornerbacks in the league, good for only second on the team – behind rookie Patrick Surtain II. Darby and Fuller also got the lowest coverage grades among Broncos CBs, with 58.7 and 40.8, respectively. These are telling signs for the Broncos that they may have to move on from those two. Given his history of injuries and performance on the field, Darby makes sense as a potential roster cut this offseason for the Broncos.

The Broncos have a number of cornerbacks due to hit free agency in the offseason. Bryce Callahan, Michael Ford, Nate Hairston, and the aforementioned Fuller could all be gone, a positive for Darby’s chances of being kept by Denver. Or the Broncos could just hit the reset button in their cornerback room and swallow the dead money of Darby’s contract.