The Broncos need running back depth behind Javonte Williams.

On Tuesday, they took a big step to address that.

Denver is reportedly signing former Bengals running back Samaje Perine to a two-year deal worth a little less than $8 million. Perine’s been with Cincinnati for the last four seasons after starting his career in Washington then a brief stop in Miami.

Take 2 with money and his name spelled right this time: #Broncos agree to terms with former #Bengals RB Samaje Perine on a two-year, $7.5 million deal with another $1 million in incentives, source says.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 14, 2023

Primarily a backup to Joe Mixon, Perine rushed 95 times for 394 yards and two touchdowns in 2021. He caught 38 passes for 287 yards and another four scores. Perine’s played in seven playoff games during the past two seasons, and scored two touchdowns against the Chiefs over the last two AFC Championship Games.

SAMAJE PERINE. 41 YARDS. #RuleTheJungle #NFLPlayoffs

📺: #CINvsKC on CBS
📱: https://t.co/dKNUFkxkbU pic.twitter.com/81OqBLVARm

— NFL (@NFL) January 30, 2022

While he’s a nice addition, this likely signals good news about the health of running back Javonte Williams, who shredded his knee this past October. GM George Paton said at the NFL Combine that Williams could be ready for the start of the regular season, and this move seems to agree with that.

Had the Broncos gone for someone like Kareem Hunt or Miles Sanders, a bigger name, it may have signaled Williams was going to miss a large chunk of 2023. That doesn’t look to be the case, at least not right now.

Perine played his college football at Oklahoma before being selected in the fourth-round of the NFL Draft by Washington in 2017.

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