Report: Broncos may place second-round tender on Elijah Wilkinson

As the Denver Broncos prepare for the opening of free agency in a few weeks, they are looking at their current list of pending free agents and making a plan for who to try and keep and who to let go. One player they are looking at keeping is offensive lineman Elijah Wilkinson who played a significant role in the starting lineup throughout last season.

Mike Klis is reporting that the team is “likely” to place a second-round tender on Wilkinson by the March 18th deadline.

The estimated second-round tender salary is projected at close to $3.2 million for the 2020 season. It’s not a certainty the Broncos would extend Wilkinson with a second-round tender by March 18 as they may look at center-guards during the 48-hour free-agent negotiating window that opens on March 16.

The other part of this report that I found interesting was that Klis mentioned the plan was for Wilkinson to take reps at right guard and left tackle this offseason. He played right guard for seven games in 2018, but only played at right tackle last season for 12 games in place of Ja’Wuan James. It would seem the leash is becoming quite short for Garett Bolles if Denver is already looking at Wilkinson taking reps at left tackle and they haven’t even tendered him yet.

Another interesting tidbit is that they will wait until the deadline to make the tender, because center-guard is a position on their radar during the legal tampering period that begins on March 16th.

Either way, a second-round tender on Wilkinson would be worth the money. He has proven to be a versatile lineman who can come in and perform when injuries happen.

What do you think Broncos Country?