NFL Free Agency opens up on Wednesday, with the legal tampering period beginning on Monday. The top free agents usually all commit to a team during that period, so be ready to rock and roll to start next week.
Denver, CO
Phillies walk-off Rockies 2-1 as Colorado drops series opener, first extra-innings game of 2024
The Rockies found misery again in their first extra-inning game of the season.
Philadelphia walked off Colorado, 2-1, in the series opener at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night, dropping the Rockies to 4-13 on the year.
The Rockies couldn’t solve ace Aaron Nola, and then came up short in a pair of opportunities to score in the ninth and 10th innings before Cristian Pache’s single lifted Philadelphia to the victory.
“Whoever came out on the short end of this one, it was going to be a tough one,” Rockies manager Bud Black told reporters. “Nola pitched great, and so did (Cal) Quantrill. … It was a well-played game by both sides.”
Quantrill was all the Rockies could ask for, throwing six innings of one-run ball with just four hits allowed. It was by far his best start in a Rockies uniform.
His lone blemish came in the third, when Bryce Harper hit a two-out single to score Trea Turner to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
“(Quantrill) had a good split-finger going, and his secondary pitches mixing with the fastballs kept them honest,” Black said.
But as Quantrill held Philadelphia at bay, the Colorado offense got virtually no traction against Nola. That finally changed in the fifth, when Michael Toglia launched a 389-foot, no-doubt homer to right center to tie the game 1-1. Up until that point, the Rockies’ lone baserunners came from singles by Brenton Doyle and Elias Diaz.
Justin Lawrence took care of the seventh inning, and the combination of Jalen Beeks and Nick Mears kept the Phillies off the board in the eighth despite a leadoff walk issued by Beeks to Kyle Schwarber.
In the ninth, Diaz stroked a two-out double off former Colorado pitcher Jeff Hoffman. Kyle Freeland pinch ran for Diaz, getting to third on a wild pitch, and an intentional walk to Nolan Jones followed.
With Elehuris Montero at the plate, another wild pitch from Hoffman was gathered by J.T. Realmuto just off the dirt circle behind home after the ball bounced straight up in the air. The Phillies catcher fired it to Hoffman at the plate and tagged Freeland out.
The Rockies challenged, possibly in an attempt to get an obstruction call, but the call stood to end the inning. Freeland appeared to hurt his right shoulder on the play when Hoffman — his close friend — fell on top of him. Freeland went right into the clubhouse after the play, but then reappeared in the dugout shortly after. The speed at which the play developed exempted Hoffman from an obstruction violation.
“The home plate umpire saw (that play) as a convergence of two players coming in and both trying to make a play,” Black said. “Kyle trying to get to home plate, and Hoffman trying to get the ball from Realmuto. The convergence and the speed of the play was such where no blocking of the plate was called.”
Black said Freeland is “fine” despite immediately rolling on the dirt in pain after the play. The manager said he chose Freeland to pinch run because “we were trying to win the game” and the pitcher “is one of our fastest players.”
Mears went back out for the ninth, and set the Phillies down in order to force extras.
“On the road in the bottom of the ninth against a championship (caliber) team — good for Nick,” Black said. “That was a growth moment for him.”
Seranthony Domínguez pitched the Philadelphia top half of the 10th, but Montero, Toglia and Doyle were retired in order to strand Nolan Jones at third base.
Jake Bird took the mound for the Rockies in the 10th, and the Phillies led off with Whit Merrifield’s sacrifice bunt to advance the runner Bryson Stott to third. Two batters later, Pache singled Stott home on a stroke to right to walk-off the Rockies.
Black said outfielder Jake Cave and second baseman Brendan Rodgers were unavailable on Monday due to sickness, while Kris Bryant — who left Saturday’s game in Toronto with back stiffness and hasn’t played since — was also unavailable.
Tuesday’s pitching matchup
Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (0-0, 4.91) at Phillies LHP Ranger Suarez (2-0, 2.65)
4:40 p.m. (MDT) Tuesday, Citizens Bank Park
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Gomber’s lone road start so far this year was mediocre, as Arizona touched him up for four runs in four-plus innings on March 30, which included two homers and three walks. Gomber’s been using his changeup a bit more this year, and he needs his offspeed to be effective, as he’s averaging just 89.9 mph on his fastball. On Monday, he’ll need to be wary of Alec Bohm, as the Phillies third baseman has two homers in five at-bats against him.
Suarez, a southpaw from Venezuela, is off to a solid start to the year. That’s included quality starts each of the last two times out, and a six-inning, no-run gem last week against Pittsburgh. He has 19 strikeouts through 17 innings pitched, so the K-heavy Rockies will need to put the ball in play against him. The Rockies have seen little of him, and haven’t fared well: a .189 average over 37 at-bats.
Pitching probables
Wednesday: Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (1-1, 3.38) at Phillies LHP Cristopher Sanchez (0-2, 3.52), 4:05 p.m.
Thursday: Off day
Friday: Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (1-2, 7.98) at Rockies RHP Dakota Hudson (0-3, 4.15), 6:40 p.m.
During the NFL Combine, we learned the Denver Broncos plan to tender exclusive rights free- agent running back Tyler Badie. Fast forward to Friday, and the Broncos are taking care of business with two other exclusive rights free agents.
9NEWS‘ Mike Klis broke the news that Denver will tender safety Devon Key and rush linebacker Dondrea Tillman. The ERFA tender is priced at $1.075 million for 2026.
“Per source, [the] Broncos have agreements to bring back exclusive rights free agent safety/All-Pro special teamer Devon Key and fellow ERFA OLB Dondrea Tillman, who had 4.0 sacks and 2 INTs (with impressive returns) last year,” Klis posted on X.
Most ERFA decisions are a matter of course, but not always. In the case of Key and Tillman, it’s a no-brainer.
Key’s Resume
Key set a new franchise record last season with 26 special-teams tackles, leading the league and garnering first-team All-Pro honors. It was the first All-Pro recognition of his young career. He became the first player in Broncos history to make the A.P. All-Pro Team as a special teamer.
Key also forced a fumble and appeared in all 17 regular-season games. Key’s new franchise record eclipsed Keith Burns’ long-held mark of 24 special-teams tackles (2000, 03). Key was snubbed in the Pro Bowl vote, but the A.P. helped offset that.
With P.J. Locke’s pending departure into unrestricted free agency, the Broncos could view Key as the natural safety to step into the No. 3 role behind Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones. Key is a very talented player, and he’s developed nicely since arriving on Denver’s practice squad back in 2022.
Tillman’s Path to Denver
Tillman arrived in Denver as a college free agent in 2024, technically, even though he’d been playing professional ball in the UFL. As a ‘rookie,’ he notched five sacks as a backup.
Last season, Tillman co-led the team with two interceptions, making a name for himself as a runner after the catch, picking up 59 return yards, including a long of 36. He finished his second NFL season with 41 tackles (13) solo, four sacks, three tackles for a loss, and three passes defensed.
Not bad for the No. 4 rush linebacker on the depth chart. Tillman and Jonah Elliss have served as the primary backups to Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, and they’ve done well to ensure that when the starters leave the field, the pass-rushing show goes on.
Tillman is only 27 years old and he has a bright NFL future ahead of him. After this season, he’ll be a restricted free agent. If he continues on his current trajectory, the Broncos might opt to re-sign him instead of tendering him, but that decision won’t be made for another year.
Tillman might become to expensive to keep, if he keeps it up.
About Jordan Jackson
Besides Badie, whom, again, the Broncos reportedly plan on tendering, defensive lineman Jordan Jackson is also an ERFA. Considering the price tag, Jordan might be the relatively rare exception and go un-tendered.
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Marlee Brown serves guests at Trybal African Speakeasy in Denver on Feb. 25, 2026. (Kevin Mohatt/Special to The Denver Post)
Denver’s restaurant scene is in crisis.
So much so that the city, VisitDenver and Austin, Texas-based restaurant financing company InKind commissioned a report to detail the industry.
Denver’s rising tipped minimum wage, which has more than doubled since 2019 and sits at $16.27 an hour, was the biggest complaint of local restaurateurs. But the 67-page document outlined a host of other problems creating an unfavorable environment for operators in the city.
“The energy of the city used to flow through our dining rooms,” a longtime, independent full-service operator said, according to the report. “Now it feels like people go out less often, spend more cautiously, and are more likely to stay home or order in.”
The report was written by Adam Schlegel, who co-founded Snooze A.M. Eatery and Chook Charcoal Chicken, and Dana Faulk Query, the co-owner of Big Red F Restaurant Group. To compile it, they surveyed over 150 establishments, conducted interviews with operators and brokers and analyzed profit and loss statements along with publicly available datasets.
Here are five takeaways:
Denver lost thousands of restaurant jobs between 2020 and 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicates that Denver had 6% fewer restaurant sector workers in 2025 than at the beginning of 2020. That’s largely due to a 15% decline in the full-service restaurant category, according to the report.
Before the start of the pandemic, restaurant employment in Denver was growing at a 2.3% annual rate. If it had continued at that rate, there would be 10,000 to 15,000 more workers today than there actually are, according to the report.
Restaurants employ 7.9% of Denver’s total workers, down 8.7% from 2019, and account for 13% of the city’s tax revenue, the report said.
Restaurants would have needed 40% sales growth to offset rising expenses
According to the report, from 2019 through 2024, hourly labor costs increased 50% to 55%, rent increased 23% and cost of goods sold rose 22%. Profits, on the other hand, declined 20%.
Sales increased by 5%, but an analysis by the report’s authors determined that number would need to be in the 36% to 40% range to offset the aforementioned hikes.
The number of guests coming through restaurant doors is also decreasing, the report said. And Denver reported the sharpest decrease of major metros in restaurant spending this past fall.
“This mismatch has left many operators with limited options beyond reducing labor hours, eliminating positions, delaying hiring, or closing altogether,” the report said.
Denver’s costs and prices are on par with New York and L.A.’s
The report said Denver’s dining scene looks less like a middle-America growth market and more like a “high-cost coastal city” without the population size to support it. Though it acknowledged that Denver’s rising wages have closed the cost of living gap compared with before the pandemic, it’s paid the price with lost jobs and other rising costs.
According to the Washington Hospitality Association’s 2025 Cost of Dining Report, Colorado’s menu prices are 5.1% above the national average and Denver’s are about 2.7% above the average for the 20 largest U.S. cities. That puts it firmly in the high-cost tier of American dining markets.
But rather than garnering the growth and attention that “tier one” cities like New York and Los Angeles get, Denver is in the category of “high-wage, tight-labor” cities like San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.
“Establishments grew, but employment is up only modestly versus 2013 and down from 2019 in key categories, signaling staffing strain rather than robust job growth,” the report details.
Denver’s scene is lagging compared with the rest of the state
While dining out across Colorado has taken a hit since the start of the pandemic, the report shows that the changes are most pronounced in Denver. The industry hasn’t bounced back on par with the rest of the state, the report says.
With full-service restaurants in particular, employment and the number of establishments has dropped significantly more than the category across the state. Employment across the entire sector dropped 4.3% in Denver from 2019 to 2024 while seeing a 3.3% decline everywhere else in Colorado.
“Collectively, these findings indicate that Denver’s restaurant workforce challenges are not the result of poor management or short-term disruptions, but of sustained cost pressures that increasingly limit employers’ ability to maintain staffing levels, create new jobs, and invest in long-term workforce development,” the report says.
Despite improvements, city bureaucracy still a challenge
Architects, general contractors and operators said that while each individual city department is helpful in a vacuum, the process is fragmented and disjointed. Based on interviews with restaurant owners, those delays can cost up to $70,000 a month between operating expenses and lost revenue, the report said.
That’s despite improvements made to the permitting process by Mayor Mike Johnston, including the launch of Denver’s Permitting Office in May and programs like around downtown express permitting.
I figured now would be a good time to do a little discussion around the Denver Broncos and where we think their top priorities should be on offense when free agency kicks off.
Broncos top FA needs on offense
Tim Lynch: For free agency, I’d say running back and tight end are the highest on my wish list.
I’d say pay big for a top free agent running back and ensure you have a monster two-headed backfield next season. They need a superior run-blocking tight end and, if they move on from Evan Engram, a pass-catcher too.
Christopher Hart: I agree with Tim. Those are the biggest needs for the offense. Getting a top-notch running back and a tight end capable of playing inline to replace Adam Trautman is a must. The two players I advocated a few weeks ago were running back Travis Etienne and tight end Cade Otton. Both would be fantastic additions and help take Denver’s offense to the next level in 2026.
Scotty Payne: Playmaker is the top and biggest need. That includes a RB, TE, and/or WR in that order.
Need to improve the run game regardless, need some sort of production out of the TEs as well as improved blocking, and if they can get a true WR1, that would be great too.
Ross Allen: I think we’re all in agreement.
Getting someone who can be the dominant running back and have RJ Harvey serve that glamorous “joker” role would be huge for this offense. And given that they also don’t have a legitimate playmaker at the receiving position hurts them. A TE or WR can fill that role.
Sadaraine: The #1 need for the Broncos on offense is a top-notch running back. I will be blown away if the Broncos don’t sign a top-tier free agent running back to upgrade the offense (and no, J.K. Dobbins wouldn’t be that guy…not with his injury history).
There’s a significant gap in need after that until we start talking about tight ends and receivers. I think we’re more likely to see more money spent on a tight end than a receiver, but this offense could use both to be sure.
Ian St. Clair: Not to beat a dead horse, but running back is the biggest need and priority for this team when free agency starts. Having a consistent and effective running game will make Nix and the offense exponentially better. It will make the team better. After running back, the Broncos need to figure out their tight end.
Adam Malnati: Give Bo a weapon. I don’t care which position. Yes, RB is a need. Yes, TE is a need (thanks a lot Evan Engram). Still, a weapon would be nice.
Predictably, we’re all heavily keyed in on running back and tight end. That was a big part of our free agent profile coverage too and for good reason. There have been many rumors around Denver looking to target both positions next week and where there is smoke there is usually fire.
The question really becomes: go big or go affordable? With the championship window open, I’m leaning go big on premium play-maker positions this offseason.
Where do you stand on this discussion? Give us your top free agent needs on offense and how you hope the Broncos address them next week.
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