Trading Marvin Mims Jr. would create a problem the Broncos are not built to solve easily.
That’s the real issue here. Mims is in the final year of his contract, and while his return work makes him valuable, he still hasn’t locked down a steady offensive role.
That leaves Denver weighing whether an extension makes more sense than exploring a trade. And even with his name continuing to pop up in trade chatter from analysts and media outlets, the case against moving him is still stronger than the case for doing it.
If the Broncos did decide to deal him, the replacement pool is thin.
Michael Bandy got the first crack last year when Mims missed time on punt returns, and it didn’t go well. He wasn’t especially explosive, and he had trouble cleanly handling the ball.
Sean Fresch Jr. and Kolbie Katsis are the two newer names in the mix, but both are still unknown quantities at the NFL level. Fresch had success as a returner in the UFL, while Katsis was targeted by Darren Rizzi because of what he showed as a return man in college. Still, there’s a big jump from those levels to the NFL, and Denver would be guessing on how that translates.
RJ Harvey is another possible answer. He got some return reps in 2025 as a rookie, but a mistake against the New York Giants in 2025 ended that experiment.
After that, the Broncos went to Tyler Badie. He had some flashes, but not enough to make him a reliable kick returner.
That leaves Denver with very few realistic alternatives, and that’s part of why moving Mims would be such a gamble. Three of the options have only been used in one return role, while the other two remain largely unproven. Meanwhile, Mims has been a steady lift for the Broncos, especially in stretches when the offense has struggled to find any rhythm.
The bottom line is simple: Mims is a two-time All-Pro returner, once as a punt returner and once as a kick returner. That kind of production is not easy to replace, whether Denver trades him now or lets him leave in free agency after the season.
So unless the Broncos work out an extension, they need to be ready for a real drop-off if they move on.
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There is also a little extra draft-day intrigue hanging over Colemans first NFL season, the kind that tends to linger when a player lands in a place that once looked like a natural fit. The Broncos see a useful piece they can deploy based on game flow and health, but the larger question is whether Coleman can turn that early role into something bigger and give the team a reason to revisit how the board unfolded. [Read more 🡒]