When Malcolm Roach was 9 years old and in the fourth grade, he played varsity high school football against players as much as eight years older.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Roach is now 25 and signed Thursday as a free agent on a two-year, $8 million contract with the Broncos. To say the defensive tackle is experienced beyond his years would be an understatement.

“Malcolm started dressing out with the varsity team when he was in the fourth grade,’’ said Roach’s father, Mike Roach, who was in 2007 the coach of Southern University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, La. “I was the head coach so I let my son dress. And we let him play in several games when we were beating teams pretty good.”

With Southern University Lab being a semi-private school that was kindergarten through the 12th grade, there were no rules preventing a fourth grader from playing on the varsity. Roach was about 5-foot-4 at the time and described by his father as being a “little chubby kid,’’ but he could hold his own on the field.

“We let him go out on the kickoffs, and we put him in at linebacker when they had to throw the ball,’’ said his father. “He made a few plays. He made some tackles.”

Meanwhile, his mother watched from the stands. There was plenty of focus on their other son, Mike Roach Jr., who is six years older than Malcolm and back then was the Southern Lab quarterback. But things really pepped up when Malcolm got into games.

“They would put him in the game and all of his classmates would be happy and everyone in the crowd would be excited,’’ said Nancy Roach. “He actually did very well. He did make some tackles. It was like the movie ‘Rudy’ when he came around the end and tackled the quarterback. That’s exactly what he did.’’

Onlookers at that time were impressed with Roach.

“One woman, one of the parents, said, ‘That boy is going to be a professional football player one day,’’ said his mother. “I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.'”

Roach, who at the time also was starring for the Falcons in a youth football league, continued throughout his elementary school years to dress out for the Southern Lab varsity and play in blowouts. In the seventh grade, he began to see some varsity spot duty. And by the ninth grade, when he actually was of high school age, he became a regular player and was named to the Louisiana all-state team.

Roach then moved on to the Madison Preparatory Academy in Baton Rouge, where he was all-state for three more years. Then he starred at the University of Texas. Now he’s entering his fifth NFL season after having spent his first four with his home-state New Orleans Saints.

Throughout his childhood, Roach was tutored by his father Mike Roach, 61, now retired after being a longtime championship high school coach in Louisiana and having stints as a college assistant with Grambling State and Alcorn State. He also was head coach when his son played for Madison Prep.

“When he was in the fourth grade, I was teaching him everything,’’ said Roach’s father. “He knew then how to get in and out of a three- and a four-point stance. We worked on drops.”

Even his mother got into the act in providing pointers. After all, Nancy Roach was a well-regarded intramural flag-football quarterback in the early 1980s at Baton Rouge Magnet High School.

Now the 6-foot-3, 290-pound Malcolm is all grown up. And he’s bringing his experience to the Broncos.

“Malcolm has great intellect for football,’’ said his father. “When you talk to him, he’s like a coach.”

It certainly has helped that Roach played high school football for nine years.

Smith wanted Broncos to keep Wilson

Russell Wilson is gone from Denver and now wearing No. 3 for Pittsburgh. Former Broncos star receiver Rod Smith had hoped he would stick around.

“I honestly didn’t agree with it,’’ Smith told The Denver Gazette. “I thought he played well enough to stay.”

The Broncos last Wednesday released Wilson after two seasons. He signed a $1.21 minimum deal Friday with the Steelers, with the Broncos also paying him $37.79 million in 2024. He had a disastrous 2022 season when Nathaniel Hackett was the coach but looked a lot better in 2023 under Sean Payton, throwing 26 touchdown passes with just eight interceptions.

“He played well,’’ Smith said. “He didn’t play great, but no one played great. If anyone had played great, we would have had a better record than (8-9). You can’t blame one guy. He didn’t play defense, he didn’t play special teams, he didn’t block for himself.”

Smith is aware there would have been financial implications in keeping Wilson, 35, who would have been guaranteed on Sunday $37 million for 2025 if he stuck around. And he is aware Payton and Wilson didn’t always see eye to eye.

“I think the relationship with (Wilson) and (Steelers coach Mike Tomlin) will be different than the relationship between him and (Payton),’’ Smith said. “(That relationship) just looked bad. The optics looked bad.”

Nevertheless, Smith still had hoped for Wilson to be retained.

“I personally thought Russell Wilson could have helped us win, and that’s what hurt me,” Smith said.

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What I’m hearing

—A decision on teams in the Aug. 1 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game could be made as soon as later this month, and the Broncos have a chance of playing in it. The game in recent years has matched two teams that each have a former player entering the Hall, and Randy Gradishar will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 3. However, among the six teams that look to be in position to be chosen, the Broncos were in the game most recently, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 14-10 in 2019.

—Fullback Michael Burton and the Broncos had a simple negotiation. Burton wanted to re-sign and Denver wanted him back. The veteran salary benefit was used on Burton, with him signing a one-year minimum deal of $1.21 million and getting a signing bonus of $167,500. He counts $1.152 million on the salary cap, giving the Broncos a bit extra wiggle room.

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What I’m thinking

—With the free-agent quarterback market mostly depleted, the Broncos should continue to be patient. Quarterbacks still on the board, with Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz and Tyler Huntley heading the list, might not be any better than fallback starter Jarrett Stidham. Stidham is under contract in 2024 for an economical $7 million and the Broncos are almost certain to take a quarterback in the April 25-27 draft. They should see whom they get and how Stidham looks in spring drills before possibly signing another signal caller.

—Interesting that the Broncos had a formal interview at the combine last month with Florida State running back Trey Benson, projected to be selected in the second or third round of the draft. The Broncos don’t have an obvious top-tier back. They hope Javonte Williams will look much better in his second season after recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in 2022. But there is no guarantee of that after a 774-yard season in which he averaged a meager 3.6 yards per carry.