Malcolm Roach

Career StatsB-

Year	Team	GP	Sacks	Tkl	TFL
Career		70	7.5	174	27.5
2025		12	4.0	41	5
2024		17	2.5	43	9.5
2023		12

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

The Broncos secured excellent value by locking up Malcolm Roach at $9.3M AAV, a deal that represents a steal for a solid starter at defensive tackle. While Roach isn't an elite interior presence, his consistent production as a reliable run-stopper and rotational pass rusher makes this contract a significant win in today's inflated market where middling defensive tackles routinely command $12-15M annually. At 26, Roach is entering his prime years with plenty of tread left on the tires, making the three-year commitment a smart bet on continued development rather than paying for past peak performance. The modest $9.7M in guaranteed money keeps Denver's risk manageable while providing Roach with meaningful security, creating a win-win structure that avoids the massive dead money traps plaguing other teams' DT contracts. This B CVI deal exemplifies smart roster building—the Broncos identified an ascending player before the market caught up to his value, giving them a foundational interior defender at a price that leaves room to invest elsewhere on defense.

Performance Analysis

Malcolm Roach is a six-year veteran defensive tackle who has carved out a reliable role in the trenches after entering the league as an undrafted free agent out of Texas in 2019 — a testament to the kind of developmental arc that keeps scouts employed. Now in Denver, Roach earns a B- grade this season, a modest step back from his B+ showing in 2023 but a meaningful improvement over a C campaign in 2024, suggesting a player who is finding his footing again after a difficult stretch. At 27 years old with 70 career games under his belt, Roach is no longer a project — he is a proven rotational contributor who understands leverage, gap discipline, and how to be useful without commanding a starter's snap count. Among interior linemen across the league, he sits comfortably in the middle tier, offering more upside than a pure space-eater but not yet the every-down force Denver's defensive scheme could use at full strength. The most compelling number in Roach's current profile is his tackles-per-game rate of 3.42, which sits at the elite threshold of 3.65 and well above the NFL average of 2.30 — that kind of production reflects a defender who plays with urgency, processes blocking schemes quickly, and rarely takes plays off. His sacks-per-game rate of 0.33 is also encouraging, comfortably above the league average of 0.21 and trending toward the elite benchmark of 0.47, indicating he is generating interior pressure consistently enough to keep offensive coordinators honest. The area that keeps his grade from climbing is his tackles-for-loss rate of 0.42 per game, which is only marginally above the NFL average of 0.35 and nowhere near the elite mark of 0.65 — for a tackle with his pursuit numbers, the expectation would be more backfield disruption and a higher conversion rate when he does penetrate. That gap between his pursuit ability and his backfield impact is the central puzzle of his game right now. Looking ahead, Roach's trajectory is cautiously optimistic — the rebound from a down 2024 season to a B- in 2025 suggests he has addressed some of the conditioning or scheme-fit issues that dragged him down, and the elite-level tackle production is a real foundation to build on. If he can close the gap on his tackles-for-loss rate and push his sack production into elite territory, a return to his 2023 form is well within reach. The next 12 months will reveal whether this is a genuine re-emergence or simply a stabilization, but Roach has enough of a track record to merit patience and a roster spot worth protecting.

Current Sentiment

Malcolm Roach enters the 2026 season with a notable boost in organizational credibility after the Denver Broncos committed to him on a three-year contract extension, a clear signal that the front office views him as a core piece of their defensive line rotation. While his career production — 7.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception across six seasons — reflects a reliable rotational contributor rather than a marquee pass-rusher, the extension reframes his narrative from depth piece to trusted building block. Media coverage surrounding the deal has been uniformly positive, with outlets including The Athletic framing the signing as part of a deliberate organizational strategy to retain key contributors, lending Roach a degree of credibility that his raw statistics alone might not command. Fan perception is likely warm but measured, as Denver supporters will appreciate the continuity and front-office decisiveness without projecting star-level expectations onto a player whose role remains complementary. Heading into 2026, Roach's public profile is that of a dependable, scheme-fitting interior defender whose value is increasingly recognized within the organization, even if broader national media attention remains modest.