Examining Cap Ramifications of Broncos' Decision to Decline Leary, Exercise Todd Davis' Team Option

John Elway recently confirmed that the Denver Broncos will not exercise the team option on Ronald Leary's contract but will pick up the options on both Todd Davis and Brandon McManus. The news wasn't surprising, though I imagine a few might have been caught off guard about one or more of the players.

McManus probably doesn't surprise anyone, but with talks about the Broncos having interest in free-agent linebackers (notably ex-Brown Joe Schobert), some may have expected Davis' option would be declined. Meanwhile, with a lack of experienced interior offensive linemen and C Connor McGovern headed to free agency, some may have wondered if Leary might stick around.

But when you look at the decisions Elway announced at the Combine, the reality is that the Broncos are looking more at whether or not the player in question is worth the cap hit he'll have. Let's look at those cap numbers and find out why.

Leary: He was going to have a cap charge of $10M in 2020. As I've stated before, that's a high cap charge for a player who has missed multiple games in the past three seasons. The Broncos clearly believed Leary wasn't worth that cap charge and decided to move on.

The move does leave the Broncos without much experience at guard — and they won't have much experience at center either if McGovern moves on — but the Broncos do have options available. They can always tender restricted free agent OL Elijah Wilkinson and move him to guard for the time being.

OG Austin Scholttman was solid at times when he entered the lineup and the Broncos may believe he can improve. Wilkinson and Schlottmann may not be the best options at right guard, but the team could at least get by with them for the time being.

Bear in mind that the Broncos could still explore free agency and might find somebody who can provide that veteran presence. The Broncos could also draft an interior offensive lineman, too. I don't think Denver is going to stand pat with who it has right now, either at right guard or at center.

Furthermore, the Broncos have Mike Munchak coaching up the offensive linemen. His ability to get the most out of players in the majority of cases should help the Broncos overcome any lack of experience. Dalton Risner was a rookie but played well, while Garett Bolles took some steps in the right direction, even though he has more things to clean up. The only player who struggled all season was Wilkinson, but that was at right tackle, and Wilkinson may be better suited at guard.

Again, the Broncos will need to address the guard position in some form, but I expect they will do so. It's not a given that the Broncos are out of luck because they are moving on from Leary.

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Davis: The off-ball linebacker market got re-set last season and you aren't likely to find the top players in free agency coming in at a low price. If the Broncos had declined Davis' option without knowing whether they had another player lined up in free agency — and they would have to decline the option before they can officially sign a free agent — they could put themselves in a worse position if they failed to sign a free agent.

Besides, Davis has a cap hit of $6M, which is fine for a player of his talents. I know a lot of Broncos fans give Davis much grief over his struggles in coverage, but $6M is fine for a two-down thumper, given where the market is going for the position.

On top of that, it's easy to keep Davis while adding another off-ball linebacker in free agency, because the free agent's cap hit can be structured so it's lower in the first year of the deal, then increases in the second year — at the time that Davis' deal happens to expire.

Meanwhile, the Broncos should have Alexander Johnson on a low-cost deal for at least 2020. Per Over the Cap, Johnson is a restricted free agent in 2021, but that will be a lower-cost salary — again, that's when Davis' deal expires.

So it's not going to be difficult to keep Davis in 2020 while still adding a free agent, if the Broncos do indeed add one. Once his deal expires, the Broncos can move on at that point.

We'll see how the dominoes fall in free agency, but the Broncos don't have to move on from Davis in order to be active. Moving on from Leary — and QB Joe Flacco, who I expect will be cut — gives the Broncos more than enough space, on top of what they already have, to get free agents they want. The Broncos currently sit at just over $70M in cap space, per Over The Cap.

Regardless of what the Broncos do, the biggest thing is put trust in the coaching staff to know exactly what they need — and if you go into free agency to address a need, to understand that good players won't come cheap, but to not overpay if you have any concerns.

You can go back and read my articles on how to build around a quarterback to know more about what to do and what to avoid.

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