INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — There was hardly any doubt, but Ja’Quan McMillian will almost certainly be back in a Broncos uniform in 2026.
McMillian’s agent, Deryk Gilmore, told The Denver Post Friday afternoon in Indianapolis that the Broncos are placing a second-round tender to the value of $5.8 million on McMillian. Denver reached out Thursday night with the decision, Gilmore said.
McMillian was a restricted free agent, and the tender now means that a team would have to offer up a second-round pick to match that $5.8 million. Given the value of a second-round pick, it’s highly unlikely any franchise would try to match Denver’s offer. Unless the Broncos add another piece via the draft or free agency, Denver’s cornerback room looks all but set for 2026 with the same faces it deployed in 2025: Pat Surtain, Riley Moss, McMillian, rookie Jahdae Barron, and Kris Abrams-Draine.
The larger question is how the Broncos view their long-term room. Denver has stockpiled cornerbacks and faces some uncomfortable decisions. McMillian will hit unrestricted free agency after this season’s one-year tender, and Moss’s rookie deal is up after this coming season, too. The Broncos, meanwhile, will want to wring maximum value out of last year’s first-round selection of Barron, meaning they’ll have three starter-level corners across two open spots in the secondary (outside CB next to Pat Surtain, and nickel).
Gilmore, for his money, told The Post that he believes Denver will try to move Barron to outside corner after the rookie lost a battle for the nickel job with McMillian in 2025 training camp.
“I told JaQuan — I said, they have to give Jahdae every opportunity to win and be the guy,” Gilmore said. “He’s got to take that corner (job) and lock it down. They don’t want to give it to him. He can do it, though. But they really would love for him to be great, Surtain to be great, JMac to be the nickel, Riley to be the specialty guy.”
Gilmore said he anticipates the Broncos will get trade offers for Moss somewhere around midseason, in his opinion.
The key to the puzzle is how Denver ultimately views Barron. The rookie ultimately played just 30% of Denver’s defensive snaps in big-nickel or dime packages in 2025, while McMillian put together the best season of his NFL career: four sacks, 61 tackles, two interceptions and nine passes defensed.
Gilmore said that Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is like a “dad” to McMillian, who the Broncos snapped up as an undrafted free agent after the 2022 NFL Draft and who has since become a playmaking stalwart on Denver’s defense.
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McMillian may well be entrenched at nickel for the Broncos in 2026 again, then, after starting there for three straight seasons. A source with knowledge of the situation, though, told The Post they believe Payton could push for Barron to compete with Moss for his outside-cornerback job. Moss, though, would be difficult to supplant, as he made national headlines for a slew of pass-interference penalties but also led the NFL with 19 passes defensed in facing frequent targets opposite Surtain, the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year.
General manager George Paton said at the combine on Tuesday that he believes Barron can play “anywhere,” both outside and at nickel.
“We love the depth,” Paton said. “I think it’s a great problem to have and I think Jahdae is going to keep getting better and better. He’s really talented.”
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