Broncos Stun NFL World With Jaw Dropping 15 Million Trade Blitz That Shocks Fans and Exposes Locker Room Turmoil

The Denver Broncos have slow-played the contract situations of several veteran players this offseason. One of those players, John Franklin-Myers, remains outspoken about his desire for a new deal with the Broncos.

Franklin-Myers logged a career-high 7.0 sacks last season. In the final year of a two-year, $15 million contract, he certainly wants his. But Franklin-Myers says there is enough for everyone.

“I love my brothers, we can all eat!” Franklin-Myers posted on X on July 14.

Franklin-Myers’ latest comments come in reaction to a commentary from 104.3 Denver Sports’ Zach Bye and former Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay. Bye touted Franklin-Myers’ durability and noted the veteran has produced more sacks than teammate Zach Allen.

“Zach Allen, deserving of all the praise he’s getting; 8.5 sacks,” Bye told Lindsay, a Colorado native and CU alum who played for the Broncos from 2018 through 2020, on “The Drive” on July 7. “When we have these conversations, it’s almost like John Franklin-Myers didn’t have 7.0; a sack-and-a-half difference between the guy that we’re calling the best D-tackle in the sport.

“When you take a step back and look at his career, I’m not saying it’s the same as Zach Allen, or he’s the same player. Man, but he’s a lot closer than people [realize].”

The Broncos acquired Franklin-Myers in a trade with the New York Jets during the 2024 draft. He entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 2018.

Franklin-Myers appeared in the Super Bowl with LA as a rookie and recorded a sack. He was cut in 2019 and signed with the Jets. He missed the 2019 campaign recovering from a groin injury. Since then, he has missed one game due to injury, which was in 2021.

Franklin-Myers started 16 of 17 games for the Broncos in 2024. According to Pro Football Reference, he was second behind only Allen among the Broncos D-linemen in snap share.

Former Broncos RB Touts John Franklin-Myers Amid Contract Push

Lindsay backed Bye on his claims about Franklin-Myers, who has expressed feelings of being overlooked among the top defensive linemen in the game, while making it clear that he would like a new contract from the Broncos.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton has left commentary about contracts up to general manager George Paton. Lindsay believes Bye’s argument aligns with what Franklin-Myers might say.

“This is what someone like JFM is probably bringing to the table when he’s talking to George and Sean. He’s saying, ‘You guys are not hearing me loud enough. You guys are kind of pushing my head down thinking that Zach Allen’s the only one out here doing these type of things. Why? Because Zach Allen may have a bigger voice. We talk about him a lot more because the media talks about him a lot more, because the coaching staff seems to talk about him a lot more. … He was a prized free agent, and he came from the system of VJ [Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph] with the Arizona Cardinals,” Lindsay said.

“Zach Allen has done a great job. Make no mistake about it, a great job. And he deserves his flowers, deserves to get paid. But we can’t sit here and act like John Franklin-Myers doesn’t deserve to be paid either. Because he’s doing the exact same things and has the exact same, similar stats as Zach Allen, and he’s a big reason why we were able to have a successful defense last year.”

The Broncos set a franchise record and led the NFL with 63 sacks during the 2024 regular season.

“We look at it like, Okay, if you’re willing to give up John-Franklin-Myers, if you’re the Jets for a [2026 sixth-round] pick, is he really that good? But then he steps foot into the building, he has done well for the Denver Broncos, he has bought into the culture, and he brings some kind of energy that Zach Allen doesn’t necessarily have as well. They pair together well,” Lindsay said.

“When it comes to saying, hey, Zach Allen’s not that much better than [Franklin-Myers], I agree.”

Franklin-Myers ranked fourth on the team in sacks and pressures, per Pro Football Reference. Allen ranked third and first, respectively. Notably, Pro Football Focus credited Allen with 38 hurries to Franklin-Myers’ 36.

That was good enough for second and third place on the team behind outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper.

PFR credited Allen with 7 hurries to Franklin-Myers’ 3, which ranked third and ninth on the Broncos.

John Franklin-Myers Not Expected to Land Extension

The Denver Post’s Troy Renck noted that Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton wants an extension as well, but he is behind Allen and OLB Nik Bonitto in terms of priority, which works against Franklin-Myers.

“It’s hard to see the Broncos rewarding three players before the season starts. It is not impossible. But it feels unlikely,” Renck wrote about the Broncos’ vets in June. “This math and the drafting of Sai’vion Jones are why no one expects standout defensive end John Franklin-Myers to get a new deal.”

Paton has expressed a lack of urgency, noting the Broncos have done deals in-season before, including Cooper, who signed a four-year, $54 million extension in November 2024.

The Broncos gave Pat Sutain II a four-year, $96 million pact in September 2024.

“You’ve seen how we’ve done our business,” Paton told reporters in March. “Typically, let’s get through the draft, and we’ll be open to conversations after the draft and into the summer, and sometimes into the season as well.”

Where Franklin-Myers stands in the Broncos’ grand scheme is unclear. He has plenty of competition for the team’s cap dollars, though.