Getty Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin.
The Denver Broncos have signed, sealed and delivered their 2024 draft class.
According to a report from The Denver Post’s Parker Gabriel, University of Oregon wide receiver Troy Franklin was the final of seven 2024 Broncos’ draftees to agree to terms and sign his deal with the franchise on May 31.
Franklin was a fourth-round pick (No. 102 overall) and his rookie contract is for 4 years and $4.875 million, which includes a signing bonus of $854,836.
“Rookies who don’t sign their contracts right away can still participate in the offseason program under an injury wavier, so Franklin hasn’t missed time or fallen behind for being the last to sign his deal,” Gabriel wrote.
Franklin could be a key contributor right away — at Oregon he was the favorite target of Broncos’ quarterback Bo Nix, Denver’s No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Franklin Draws Comparisons to 1,000-yard NFL WR
Franklin was a two-time All-Pac-12 pick for the Ducks and capped his career with 81 receptions for a single-season school record 1,383 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023. He was also named a second-team Associated Press All-American and his 25 career receiving touchdowns were also a school record.
Franklin may have dropped in the draft due to questions about his size — he’s a tad light at 6-foot-2 and just 176 pounds but ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds at the NFL combine.
NFL analyst Lance Zierlein had Franklin projected as a second-round pick and compared him to New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave.
Olave was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft and has started his career with back-to-back seasons of over 1,000 receiving yards.
“Franklin might not get WR1 target volume, but he should be productive with a high yards-per-catch average and the ability to open things up underneath for his teammates,” Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “Franklin could become a coveted complementary piece for an established WR1 or a productive vertical target for a team looking for instant help in the passing game.”
Broncos Haven’t Had 1,000-Yard WR Since ’19
One good thing for Franklin about joining the Broncos — outside of having an established connection with their potential franchise quarterback — is that there are zero established stars on the roster at the wide receiver position.
The closest thing the Broncos have is seventh-year wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who is sitting out OTAs while he seeks a contract extension even though he has two years left on a 4-year, $60.8 million contract extension he signed in March 2021.
Sutton is also the last the Denver player to have over 1,000 receiving yards in a single season when he had 72 receptions for 1,112 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns in 2019, when he earned his lone Pro Bowl selection.
Franklin is one of three wide receivers drafted by the Broncos in the last two years. Denver also selected Utah’s Devaughn Vele in the seventh round in 2024 (No. 235 overall). Vele had 43 receptions for 593 yards in 2023.
In 2023, the Broncos selected Oklahoma’s Marvin Mims in the second round but he might be too valuable as a return specialist with the NFL’s new rules on kick returns. Mims earned NFL All-Pro honors and was a Pro Bowler as a return specialist as a rookie with 1,116 all-purpose yards, with 709 of those yards coming on kick and punt returns.