In addition to 13 unrestricted free agents, the Denver Broncos will also have five exclusive rights free agents (ERFAs) and one restricted free agent (RFA) in 2025.
ERFAs have no leverage in negotiations. They are players with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expiring contract. Teams can offer their in-house ERFAs one-year, league-minimum contracts.
If an ERFA player is offered a league-minimum tender by his club, he is not eligible to negotiate with other teams. If his original club declines to offer him an ERFA tender, though, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Meanwhile, an RFA is a player with three accrued seasons and an expiring contract. RFAs are eligible to receive a first-round ($7,279,000), second-round ($5,217,000) or a right of first refusal ($3,185,000) tender that lasts for one season.
If the Broncos, for example, place a first-round tender on an RFA and that player signs a bigger contract with another team, that club would have to send a first-round pick to Denver for the player. The same concept applies to a second-round tender, and the right of first refusal tender would give the team a chance to match an offer a player might receive from another club.
If the Broncos decline to place a tender on a restricted free agent, that player would become an unrestricted free agent.
Here’s the full list of Denver’s ERFAs and RFAs in 2025, via OverTheCap.com.
Broncos ERFA and RFA players
- TE Lucas Krull (ERFA)
- DB Devon Key (ERFA)
- OLB Dondrea Tillman (ERFA)
- DL Jordan Jackson (ERFA)
- CB Ja’Quan McMillian (ERFA)
- LS Mitchell Fraboni (RFA)
The NFL’s 2025 negotiating period will run from March 10-12 ahead of the official start of NFL free agency on March 12.
