The Broncos’ defensive line is likely to again be anchored by Zach Allen and D.J. Jones in 2024. Perhaps a rookie draft pick, too.
The rest of the rotation is going to look different. Denver’s already made several moves this offseason and added another Monday by agreeing to a one-year deal with veteran defensive tackle Angelo Blackson, the team announced.
Blackson, 31, has plenty of experience. He’s played in 128 games for five different teams. In 2023 he appeared in 11 games for Jacksonville. The four seasons before that, he ranged between part-time and full-time starter in Houston, Arizona and Chicago.
At 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, Blackson has 8.5 career sacks, 17 tackles for loss and 27 quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Reference data.
Last year, Blackson spent the summer with Baltimore but didn’t make the 53-man roster at the end of August. He was quickly scooped up by Jacksonville and played 215 defensive snaps over 11 active games. Blackson’s started 42 games in his career but has never been a full-time player. He maxed out at 55% of defensive snaps played in 2021 for the Bears.
Blackson, originally from Wilmington, Del., was a fourth-round pick of Tennessee in the 2015 NFL draft.
In Denver, he joins a refurbished front-line group that also features Allen and Jones, third-year man Matt Henningsen and free agent addition Malcolm Roach. The Broncos also signed Rashard Lawrence to a futures contract in January, making three new additions. The club could also get Eyioma Uwazurike back if he’s reinstated from a gambling suspension once he’s eligible to apply in late July.
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