Jonas Griffith missed the entire 2023 campaign due to an ACL tear, but he will receive an opportunity to continue his Broncos tenure next season. The veteran linebacker signed a one-year extension on Wednesday, per an announcement from his agency.
Griffith was once again an exclusive rights free agent this year. Rather than tendering him later in the offseason, Denver has elected to ink him to a new deal prior to the start of free agency. As 9News’ Mike Klis notes, Griffith will earn $985K in 2024, the league minimum for players with two years’ experience but still a slight uptick from his one-year earnings in each of the past two seasons. A notable role could await him if he manages to remain healthy.
The Broncos have one starting LB spot accounted for with Alex Singleton. Fellow first-teamer Josey Jewell is a pending free agent, however. The same is also true of backups Justin Strnad and Ben Niemann, meaning a number of departures could take place at the position in the near future. 2023 third-rounder Drew Sanders, meanwhile, played at his best as an outside linebacker in his rookie year. Griffith has experience on special teams, but he could also push for a return to the workload he had in 2022.
That season, the former UDFA logged a 55% snap share on defense while starting eight of his nine games. His campaign was cut short due to a foot injury, though, something which compounded his absence throughout the 2023 season. Griffith had drawn rave reviews when on the field, leading to high expectations in the build-up to this past year.
The 27-year-old (who was acquired via trade in 2021) has made all 22 of his appearances with the Broncos. In that time, the former 49er and Colt has totaled 92 tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery. He could be well-positioned to compete for defensive playing time depending on how the team proceeds this offseason with Jewell in particular. In any case, Wednesday’s move will pave the way for at least a solid special teams role provided Griffith manages to recover in full from his most recent season-ending injury.
