Broncos lose a first-teamer to a division rival

The Broncos could have given Jacob Bobenmoyer a restricted-free-agent tender. But they didn’t, and now, he’s headed to Las Vegas.

Friday, the Raiders agreed to terms with Bobenmoyer, a Northern Colorado alumnus and Cheyenne, Wyo. native, on a three-year contract. Aaron Wilson of KPRC-Ch. 2 in Houston first reported the move.

#Raiders signed long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer to three-year, $3.815 million deal with $1M gtd, $425,000 signing bonus, salaries $1.01M ($575K fully gtd), $1.125M, $1.255M

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 17, 2023

Bobenmoyer was one of four eligible players to whom the Broncos did not extend RFA tenders. The others were QB Brett Rypien, S P.J. Locke and CB Essang Bassey. Locke came back to the Broncos, signing his deal this week. But Denver replaced Rypien with Jarrett Stidham, while Bassey appears headed elsewhere.

The Broncos not extending the RFA tender to Bobenmoyer came as no surprise. The right-of-first-refusal tender is $2.627 million — none of which is guaranteed. That figure is too high for a long snapper.

But the Broncos could have brought Bobenmoyer back at a lower price with some guaranteed money in the deal. That’s what they did in 2014 and 2019. In 2014, they brought back Aaron Brewer; five years later, they re-signed Casey Kreiter before the league year began.

But the dynamic was different for Bobenmoyer’s RFA year. A big part of that was the presence of Mitchell Fraboni on the roster. Fraboni handled long-snapping chores for four games in 2022 while Bobenmoyer was on injured reserve. Then, when Bobenmoyer returned, Fraboni landed on IR.

Fraboni now heads into the offseason with the inside track on the full-time job. It would come as no surprise if special-teams gurus Mike Westhoff and Ben Kotwica add another player for competition. But for now, Fraboni’s work last year was enough to compel the Broncos to let Bobenmoyer walk after four seasons.

***