It took nearly three months in free agency for J.K. Dobbins to find a home, but he has since committed to relocate from Los Angeles. The Broncos have announced their signing, as the veteran running back is now on a one-year, $2.75MM contract.
Dobbins’ Denver visit last week came as he was technically still tied to the Chargers, who slapped the rarely used UFA tender on their primary 2024 starting running back. That now only pertains to a potential 2026 compensatory pick, as both the teams that used the UFA tender this year (along with the Browns’ Elijah Moore move) have seen the players move on. But Dobbins did loom larger on the Bolts’ radar screen earlier this offseason.
Before the Chargers’ Najee Harris signing, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer indicates the team had extended an offer to Dobbins to stay. Dobbins had outplayed the $1.61MM deal he signed, leapfrogging ex-Ravens teammate Gus Edwards — who was attached to a slightly higher-priced contract (two years, $6.5MM) — to start for an eventual playoff team. He came up as a player the Chargers had designs on keeping, but an extensive medical sheet continued to give teams pause in free agency.
Dobbins rushed for a career-high 905 yards last season, doing so despite missing more time due to injury. Dobbins’ IR stint, due to an MCL sprain, only covered the four-game minimum. This certainly helped him secure a raise from the Broncos, even if significant injury concerns remain due to the former second-rounder’s Baltimore stay.
While Dobbins narrowly edged Nick Chubb‘s $2.5MM Texans contract, it is worth wondering if the 26-year-old RB would have made more had he simply agreed to stay in L.A. The Bolts made a “pretty decent” proposal to re-sign Dobbins, per Breer. Considering they gave Harris $5.25MM in base value, it can reasonably be expected Dobbins passed on an offer worth more than what he will make in Denver. Though, it is not known if his $2.5MM incentive package features reasonable goals.
The Chargers included $4.25MM worth of incentives in Harris’ deal, and Dobbins’ injury past (47 missed games) pointed to the Bolts proposing an incentive-laden contract to him as well. The Chargers also carried considerable familiarity with Dobbins, due to GM Joe Hortiz having been hired from the Ravens (and Jim Harbaugh being rather close to the Baltimore HC). But they soon made a substantial commitment to heading in a different direction by drafting Omarion Hampton in Round 1.
Regularly mocked to the Broncos at No. 20, Hampton instead slipped down two spots and becomes the Bolts’ long-term option. He and Harris represent safer bets compared to what the Broncos have assembled, investment-wise at least, as the 2021 first-rounder has missed zero games in Pittsburgh while Hampton checked in as the clear second-best RB prospect in this year’s class. The Chargers have not been shy about first-round RB investments this century, having chosen three (LaDainian Tomlinson, Ryan Mathews, Melvin Gordon), and a team that has become more run-centric will turn to Hampton alongside Harris this season.
Denver will bet on Dobbins helping keep second-round pick R.J. Harvey — a player not viewed as a consensus second-round talent — fresh, as Sean Payton has enjoyed success with this type of committee in New Orleans. But the Broncos will need to factor Dobbins’ knee trouble into their roster calculous this summer.