Broncos Should Bring Back Former Pro Bowl RB

Getty Denver Broncos running back Latavius Murray.

It’s not a secret the Denver Broncos are facing an uphill battle in 2024 with a new quarterback in rookie Bo Nix and a financially-strapped roster facing $85 million in dead cap money over the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

After a season-opening, 26-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 8, the weakest links on the roster seem more identifiable. The biggest of those might be a group of running backs who fell flat on their face in the first game.

Against the Seahawks, the Broncos rushed for 99 yards on 25 carries and were led by Nix, who had 5 carries for 35 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. The 3 other Broncos who got carries, Jaleel McLaughlin, Javonte Williams and Audric Estime, combined for 20 carries for 64 yards.

Unless the Broncos want to go fully in the tank for 2024 — an unlikely proposal with head coach Sean Payton — they’re going to need help running the ball. That could come in the form of former Denver running back and former Pro Bowler Latavius Murray.

Murray played for Payton on the New Orleans Saints in 2019 and 2020, when he had 1,704 yards of total offense and 11 touchdowns. Murray played for the Broncos in 2022 and had 827 yards of total offense and 5 touchdowns, including 703 rushing yards.

The 34-year-old Murray was the NFL’s oldest running back in 2023 while playing in 16 games for the Buffalo Bills, with 419 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns in 4 starts. He also played in both of the Bills’ playoff games, with 5 receptions for 40 yards.

Murray Has Carved Out Decade-Long NFL Career

Murray broke into the NFL after the Oakland Raiders selected him in the 6th round (No. 118 overall) of the 2014 NFL draft out of UCF. In 2015, Murray had a career-high 1,298 yards of total offense and 6 touchdowns, including 1,066 rushing yards on the way to his lone Pro Bowl selection.

In May, Murray told Syracuse.com’s Donna Ditota he’d gone outside of the country to undergo stem-cell treatments in Colombia in hopes of rejuvenating his body and playing a 12th NFL season in 2024.

“You do IV stem cells and then you get the injections within the joints or wherever you want to have the injections,” Murray told Ditota. “Essentially the IV is supposed to still penetrate into the parts of your body that are sore; the IV does overall health. But then the localized injections are for the areas that you want to specifically treat.”

Murray played for the Raiders for 3 seasons before playing for the Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Broncos and 2 separate stints with the Saints.

Through his first 11 seasons, Murray has played in 151 games with 8,172 yards of total offense and 61 touchdowns.  He also has $22.1 million in career earnings.

Broncos Hoped RB Depth Would Produce Results

The Broncos hoped the running back-by-committee approach would produce immediate results in 2024 and felt confident enough in the group they released veteran Samaje Perine, who was immediately scooped up by the 2-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Now, it’s a position group that might need a total reboot.

Denver hasn’t had a player rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season since Philip Lindsay and 2019 and haven’t had a running back selected to the Pro Bowl since Lindsay in 2018.

Denver hasn’t had a running back named NFL All-Pro since Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis made it three years in a row from 1996 to 1998 — a stretch in which the Broncos won back-to-back Super Bowls.