ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Needing a starting right tackle, the Broncos have turned to an old friend and former player for help.
Melvin Bratton, the lead fullback during the Bobby Humphrey years, is the agent representing former Seattle Seahawks right tackle Brandon Shell.
After Bratton held multiple productive talks with Broncos assistant general manager Darren Mougey, it was arranged for the free-agent Shell to visit the team’s Dove Valley headquarters Tuesday.
“Tell Broncos fans I’m still working for them,’’ Bratton said with a chuckle.
Shell, 30, isn’t coming in with the idea of becoming a backup. He has been a right tackle starter for the past five-plus years. Selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 2016 draft out of South Carolina, Shell started the final three games of his rookie season. He was the Jets’ starting right tackle the next three seasons before becoming a free agent and signing a two-year, $9 million contract with Seattle prior to the 2020 season.
He started 21 of a possible 33 games for the Seahawks, missing the final five games last season with a shoulder injury. The Broncos want to check out Shell’s shoulder during his visit Tuesday, although Bratton said the injury didn’t require surgery and should be good.
Unlike any of the rookie right tackles whom the Broncos may consider drafting with the final pick of the second round or two picks in the third round, Shell knows what it’s like to hold the right edge while quarterback Russell Wilson is running around to extend a play. The two were teammates the past two seasons in Seattle, and now that Wilson is the Broncos’ new quarterback, a reunion with Shell is possible.
“I’m excited about his visit there with my old team,’’ Bratton said.
Bratton was a star running back with the Miami Hurricanes during their dominant run in the late-1980s. A knee injury curtailed his career, but he managed to get in two years as the fullback complement to Humphrey, when he ran for 1,151 and 1,202 yards in 1989-90 with the Broncos. Bratton has been an NFL-certified agent for about 10 years.
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