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Broncos Are Becoming A Viable Destination For UFL Refugees
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- Broncos Are Becoming A Viable Destination For UFL Refugees
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
For many NFL players, secondary leagues like the XFL and the USFL have been a league of last resort, so much so that some used to refuse playing in them as a possible option. But that's changing fast with the UFL, and the Denver Broncos are becoming a destination for UFL players seeking to rehab their reputations and/or revive their careers.
Luca Evans of the Denver Post explored this phenomenon, starting with a quote from A.J. Smith, who was the offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Battlehawks of the UFL. The team's primary audible was called "Solo," which meant the opposing team had decided to cover receiver Hakeem Butler one-on-one with a lone cornerback.
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That meant throwing the ball to Butler, and Smith laughed as he described the play in the context of other possibilities.
"That," Smith said, "was our entire offense."
Butler is now a Bronco, and his signing is a reflection of how this process often works. Butler has played professionally for eight years, and it's a mystery why he hasn't caught on to many of his coaches.
"I'm like, man, if he doesn't get at least to camp – I'm like, man, this guy's unbelievable," Smith said. "Because he's got stuff you can't coach."
The Broncos have become the sixth team to take a flier on Butler, according to Evans, and Denver has signed at least one UFL player per season since 2023. The trend is being noticed by other coaches in the UFL as well.
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"It's almost like — without sitting in that room, they're saving a certain number of spots for those guys," said Battlehawks defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin, who coached Broncos linebacker Dondrea Tillman with the Birmingham Stallions in 2024.
They're also saving money. One of the driving forces behind this trend is the looming presence of NIL money, which allows players to extent their college careers and approach the NFL with enough of a cash reserve to make choices they didn't have a few years ago.
Broncos coach Sean Payton approaches this in part as a business decision that's about more than football.
"I think it's kind of becoming that, 'OK, where's the next market?'" Payton said in mid-June. "They're getting developed somewhere. Where are they if they're not in our league? I think to their league's credit, it's helping us."
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This trend aligns with the stated goal of the UFL, which was to construct a "centralized" league that would make the UFL a genuine developmental entity rather than just a collection of teams with rosters that often seemed to be constructed on a random basis. The scheduling system for this process often feels just as random, but the Broncos are doing their best to capitalize on the talent at hand with players like Butler in the interim.
