After spending the primary three seasons of his NFL profession in Denver, running back Jaleel McLaughlin is heading for the open market. The Broncos is not going to tender the restricted free agent a contract, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
While the Broncos and McLaughlin are a minimum of temporarily splitting up, he could still re-sign on a less expensive deal. That could be a legitimate possibility, in response to 9News’ Mike Klis, who points out McLaughlin would have gotten a noticeable raise on his RFA tender. McLaughlin made a $1.03MM base salary in 2025, by which he missed nine games with injuries. Tendering him would have cost the Broncos $3.55MM.
Dividing his college profession between Division II Notre Dame (Ohio) and FCS Youngstown State, McLaughlin rushed for an NCAA-record 8,155 yards. Nevertheless, no one drafted the 5-foot-8, 187-pound McLaughin in 2023. He went on to earn a roster spot with the Broncos and average a powerful 5.4 yards per carry on 76 attempts as a rookie. McLaughlin also chipped in 31 catches and three total touchdowns over a 17-game campaign.
With then-Broncos starter Javonte Williams struggling for the second straight season in 2024, McLaughlin took on more work as a runner. He finished the 12 months with profession highs in carries (113) and yards (496). McLaughlin’s catch total fell to 24, but he scored three TDs for the second straight 12 months.
Williams left for the Cowboys in free agency last 12 months, and the Broncos replaced him with J.K. Dobbins a number of months later. The team had already made an even bigger investment in RJ Harvey, whom it drafted sixtieth overall last April. Although Dobbins missed seven games, he and Harvey still split 299 carries. Those additions led to less motion for McLaughin, often a healthy scratch before Dobbins suffered a season-ending foot injury in November. While McLaughlin averaged 5.1 yards a carry in 2025, he accrued just 41 touches (37 rushes, 4 catches) in eight games.