Report: Broncos Poised to 'Spend Big' in Free Agency
The Denver Broncos have steadily improved by one win in each of the last three seasons. In the wake of Vic Fangio's arrival as head coach, the Broncos finished 7-9.
It was a second-place finish in the AFC West but nowhere close to where Denver wants to be. GM John Elway has been in the midst of orchestrating a rebuild post-Super Bowl 50 but lacking the most crucial of roster cornerstone pieces — the franchise quarterback — it felt at times like the Broncos were spinning their wheels.
Then Drew Lock arrived and everything changed. Now, time is of the essence for the Broncos to spend the necessary dollars to bridge the gap in the AFC West and compete with a cost-controlled QB locked down for the next three seasons.
Elway now has the chance to go all-in on a quarterback, build around him and put the finishing touches on this rebuild, thanks in part to the Broncos' salary cap war chest and stockpile of 11 draft picks in 2020.
Sports Illustrated's national staff writer Conor Orr recognizes that Elway could be on the brink of making a splash in free agency, where he listed the Broncos as one of five teams poised to 'spend big' in less than two weeks' time.
4. Denver Broncos (estimated cap space: $49.5 million)
The Broncos make sense here for a few reasons. The first is that there seems to be some genuine belief in Drew Lock as their starter heading into 2020, which means, from an accounting standpoint, you can throw the switch on the let’s win a Super Bowl while he’s still on his rookie deal and spend on other positions like children at a GameStop clearance event switch. The timing is good. While I’m not by any stretch of the imagination calling the Super Bowl champion Chiefs vulnerable, they’ll be trimming the financial fat off their roster. The Chargers may be starting over with a rookie quarterback. The Raiders are the Raiders, and could either be Super Bowl contenders with Tom Brady at the helm this December or a dramatic fever dream coming unglued at the seams. Plus, this gives John Elway a legitimate chance to see what Vic Fangio can do with a top-15 roster—and there should be curiosity after the team’s performance down the stretch in 2019, going from 3-8 to 7-9 and second place in the AFC West.
I'm not sure where Orr is getting his cap-space figure for the Broncos, as Over The Cap lists it at $57.4M, while Spotrac has Denver at $53.4M in the aftermath of the A.J. Bouye trade. Regardless, even hedging against Orr's significantly lower figure of $49.5M, Elway's going to have the means to throw his weight around in free agency.
The fly in the ointment is the veritable exodus the Broncos are facing, with key incumbents like Justin Simmons, Derek Wolfe, Chris Harris, Jr., Shelby Harris, and Will Parks poised to hit unrestricted free agency. The Broncos will allocate at least $12M on Simmons this year, as Elway has said publicly multiple times this offseason that barring a multi-year agreement, the fifth-year safety will get the franchise tag.
That leaves Wolfe, the Harrises and Parks. It's a solid bet that Wolfe will return, provided the Broncos make him a fair offer. Considering how dominant he was in Fangio's scheme before he got hurt last year, the Broncos are unlikely to waste too much time overthinking the Wolfe situation.
The Harrises are likely goners, as is Parks. Depending on what Simmons and Wolfe's cap hits end up being, at worst, the Broncos would still have upwards of $30M to attack free agency. That's more than enough money for Elway to make some hay. After all, in 2014, Elway had roughly $30M in cap space and yet he orchestrated the signing of DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Emmanuel Sanders, all four of whom would make it to at least one Pro Bowl in the Orange and Blue and help Denver win Super Bowl 50.
It'll be fun to see how Elway approaches this free agency period. With the Broncos being linked to unrestricted free agents like CB Byron Jones, DL D.J. Reader, LB Cory Littleton, LB Joe Schobert, WR Paul Richardson, among others, it promises to be a wild ride. Prince Amukamara is a street free agent to monitor, as he's a starting-caliber cornerback, an ex-Fangio disciple, and isn't likely to break the bank.
NFL free agency kicks off on March 18, with the legal tampering window opening two days prior. Fans don't have much longer to wait to see how Elway maneuvers but as Orr and the Mothership opine, expect the Broncos to be big spenders.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
