Stokley: Broncos ‘dropped the ball’ by not addressing TE in free agency
May 7, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: 8:10 am
With the departure of Virgil Green to AFC West foes the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency, the most senior member of the Denver Broncos tight end room is 2015 third-round pick Jeff Heuerman.
Heuerman is slightly younger than both Brian Parker and Matt LaCosse, both who joined the Broncos late last season, but is the longest-tenured player at the position for Denver.
And with more starts under his belt than Austin Traylor, Jake Butt, and rookie Troy Fumagalli — the latter two haven’t played an NFL down — Heuerman appears to be a front-runner to start the season No. 1 on the tight end depth chart, much to the chagrin of 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough.
“Butt’s been hurt. We haven’t seen him. Fumagalli hasn’t played. And if Heuerman is your starting tight end, you’re in trouble,” Clough said last week.
However, “Stokley and Zach” co-host Brandon Stokley sees a bigger issue with the tight ends room this upcoming season than Heuerman starting: the lack of experience with anyone in that position group.
“I’d like to add a veteran piece, and there are not many guys left. I think they really dropped the ball when it comes to the tight end position in free agency,” Stokley said of the Broncos offseason maneuvering.
Stokley said the one veteran tight end on the list that “makes sense” to bring in is former Philadelphia Eagles starter Brent Celek, who was released in March.
In 11 seasons with Philadelphia, Celek started 132 games, catching 398 passes for 4,998 yards and 31 touchdowns.
“Go get me Brent Celek and help him Butt and Fumagalli, and then we can just move on from Heuerman and whoever else and move forward with that room,” Stokley said last week.
Perhaps most important, Stokley said, Celek has more than a decade of starting NFL action under his belt, compared to a Broncos group with just 9 starts combined.
“I think that’s really important, to have a veteran leader in that group. They don’t have anything,” Stokley said. “I mean, Heuerman is the most-tenured guy there.”
