DENVER — Draft picks? The Broncos don't need no first- or second-round draft picks.
Free agency is the avenue to better days ahead for the Broncos as they reached a contract agreement with their ninth player Wednesday since the NL's negotiating period opened Monday.
This time it was backup cornerback/kickoff returner Tremon Smith, whom the Broncos added with a two-year, $5 million contract, a source confirmed to 9NEWS. Smith, who will turn 27 in July, can make another $500,000 in incentives.
Smith is a speedster who came from Central Arkansas. He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and played a little more than one year there before he started bouncing around to Green Bay, Indianapolis and the Houston Texans, where he settled into becoming a nice player.
He played in all 17 games each of the past two seasons with the Texans, primarily as their No. 3 cornerback. He returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown against Jacksonville in 2021, and in a game against Dallas last year he twice picked off Dak Prescott.
With the Broncos, Smith is expected to be the No. 3 outside corner behind starters Pat Surtain II and Damarri Mathis. K'Waun Williams is the Broncos' nickelback.
The Broncos have now addressed all their primary needs in free agency with the exception of safety, where Kareem Jackson could return for his 14th season, fifth with the Broncos; and receiver, where a source confirmed the Broncos made a strong offer to Green Bay's Allen Lazard, who instead decided to follow quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.
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