Broncos add free-agent center with starting experience

Sam Mustipher has 42 career starts at center. As recently as 2022, he was a full-time starting center, working as the anchor of the Chicago Bears’ offensive line. And that gives him far more experience than what the Broncos have at center.

And while both George Paton and Sean Payton have stated belief and confidence in returning recent draft picks Luke Wattenberg and Alex Forsyth, the Broncos’ addition of Mustipher covers their bases if neither of those young prospects fail to launch.

The Broncos added Mustipher on Wednesday morning, as first reported by Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post.

Mustipher has 42 career starts to his name at center — two last year in Baltimore and 40 over three seasons (2020-22) with the Chicago Bears after working his way up from their practice squad, where he spent his rookie campaign in 2019. After his final season with Chicago, the Bears chose not to give him an unrestricted-free-agent tender.

But Mustipher held his own as a pass blocker. In 1,573 pass-blocking snaps over three seasons with the Bears, he allowed just three sacks, per the data collected by Pro Football Focus. That rate of one sack allowed every 528 snaps is slightly better than Lloyd Cushenberry’s rate of one sack allowed every 482 snaps one the last two years — which were greatly improved from Cushenberry’s first two seasons.

The experience of Sam Mustipher could prove valuable if the Broncos draft a quarterback later this month. As it stood, the Broncos faced the possibility of pairing a rookie passer with a center with — at most — minimal experience.

Typically, teams like to pair a young quarterback with a veteran center to aid in making pre-snap checks — or have a young center with a veteran quarterback, as the Broncos did in their 2015 title-winning season with first-year center Matt Paradis snapping to 18-year veteran Peyton Manning.

Forsyth and Wattenberg remain options, but now, the Broncos are covered.

Denver also now has experienced depth at center (Mustipher), guard (Calvin Throckmorton) and tackle (Matt Peart). The Broncos added Peart on March 20 and brought in Throckmorton — a former Saints starter — earlier this week.

Sam Mustipher is the older brother of former Broncos practice-squad defensive lineman PJ Mustipher, who spent most of the 2023 season on the Broncos practice squad before going to the New Orleans Saints’ active roster in December.