Building the Broncos: Deciding Which Low-Level Free Agents to Re-Sign/Tender

The Denver Broncos have been eliminated from the playoff race, so our attention now turns to what's going to happen this offseason. That includes the roster and what decisions have to be made.

I'll be talking about some of the decisions the Broncos have to make regarding the roster in the coming weeks. We're starting this series with the preliminary work ahead, which is mostly focused on younger players who haven't accrued at least four seasons.

The three categories of players I'll focus on are:

• Futures Contracts: These are given to players who have spent time on practice squads for the bulk of the 2021 season. They're mostly given to younger players and have no guaranteed money.

• Exclusive Rights Free Agents: Any player with no more than two accrued seasons in the NFL. Most of them will be undrafted players, but in a few cases, a player who was drafted and waived before the start of his rookie season can fall into this category. The money isn't guaranteed.

• Restricted Free Agents: Any player with no more than three accrued seasons, who may receive either a first-, second-round, or right-of-first-refusal tender. Again, most will be undrafted players, but a drafted player waived before his rookie contract expires could fall under here. No tender involves guaranteed money.

In the first two cases, you have cheap players in which there's no risk to keeping them, they can always be waived if you find a replacement, and their cap hit is small and, when the top-51 cutoff takes effect in the offseason, may not even count against the cap. In the third case, the risk comes from the tender amount, which counts against the salary cap.

Getting these players added helps a team get to 51 players under contract and to have a firm grasp on what its effective cap space will be. The Broncos have 37 players under contract currently for 2022 and would need 14 to get to 51.

We'll talk about the Broncos' cap space later, but let's first look at the three categories and what I believe the Broncos should do in each instance.

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Futures Contracts

Two players currently on the practice squad aren't eligible for futures contracts because they've played in the NFL for a long time. DL Akeem Spence has nine accrued seasons and DB Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix has seven, so they'll be considered unrestricted free agents.

The rest of the practice squad players have a shot at futures contracts. It's not necessarily dependent on who's on the coaching staff. In several cases, the players have seen game action and shown they deserve the chance to compete for roster spots.

OT Quinn Bailey, RB Damarea Crockett, WR Tyrie Cleveland, and DL Marquiss Spencer are players who are likely to get futures contracts. DL Jonathan Harris, who was elevated from the practice squad after multiple players went on the COVID-19 list last week, is another possibility.

Basically, any young player who has spent the bulk of the season on the practice squad is a candidate. They have no guarantees they will stay on the roster throughout the offseason, but you never know who might prove worthy of a roster spot.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents

The Broncos currently have four players who will be exclusive rights free agents: QB Brett Rypien, ILB Jonas Griffith, S P.J. Locke and RB Adrian Killins.

Griffith has played so well the last couple of games, tendering him is a no-brainer. Rypien will probably get tendered as well, because it's a cheap contract with no guaranteed money. Locke has been solid depth so he should get tendered as well.

The one who might not get tendered is Killins, who spent the season on injured reserve. While an ERFA tender is cheap, it's not unusual for a team to forego tendering such a player if the team has questions about the player's health.

Restricted Free Agents

The Broncos have seven restricted free agents, which I have previously discussed. Now that we are approaching the decision point, here's what I believe is best for the Broncos to do.

Tender OLB Malik Reed | Second-Round :evel: While Reed has his issues with run defense, it's preferable to tender him at the second-round level to ensure the Broncos have a pass rusher who can be penciled in to pair alongside Bradley Chubb.

With Reed, I could see the Broncos use the ROFR tender if they don't believe he'll draw interest from other teams. Another option is to not tender him, then re-sign Stephen Weatherly, who could come cheaper than what the second-round tender will cost.

Tender OT Calvin Anderson | Second-Round Level: I lean toward this tender for Anderson because the Broncos should pencil him in as the starting right tackle. The team doesn't need to lock itself into that decision, but it at least needs somebody with experience.

Anderson is also younger than Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming, so I'd rather commit money to the younger player, particularly because the money wouldn't be guaranteed.

But I could see the ROFR tender for Anderson instead, if the Broncos don't believe he'll attract interest. Or perhaps GM George Paton has his eyes on free agency (though you have to be careful with overpaying here).

Tender DL DeShawn Williams | Right-of-First Refusal: In this case, I'd rather go with the cheapest tender, because I doubt Williams will command a lot of interest. His future appers to be at nose tackle, and such players come pretty cheap.

Another option is to not tender Williams, but re-sign him to a one-year deal. There's a good chance the Broncos will be able to keep him if they don't go with a tender.

Don't Tender Any Other RFA: There's no point to tendering FB/TE Andrew Beck, OG Austin Schlottmann, ILB Natrez Patrick, or WR Diontae Spencer.

I'm open to Beck returning on a one-year deal if he fits the new coaching staff's offensive scheme. I'm not as convinced about Schlottmann, but the minimum for him is $965,000, so I can see the argument for a one-year deal.

Spencer has had his moments in the past, but this season, he's been a major disappointment and there's no reason to keep him. As for Patrick, he spent the season on injured reserve and, most likely, won't return.

Bottom Line

Second-round RFA tenders are projected to be $3.9M and ROFR tenders are projected to be $2.4M, while the ERFA tenders for Locke and Rypien are $895,000 each, and Griffith's ERFA tender is $825,000.

Most futures contracts come in at no more than $650,000, so if the Broncos sign eight of them, then tender Reed, Anderson, Wiliams, Rypien, Locke and Griffith, they'd have 51 players under contract. That would put them about $30M under the cap.

However, we aren't done yet, because there are other moves the Broncos will have to consider in building the 2022 roster. We'll go over potential cuts and what to do with pending unrestricted free agents in the next part of this series.

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