John Elway’s free agency wallet, if there were such a thing, is loaded this offseason. And not with hundred dollar bills, but, if there were such a thing, million-dollar bills.
With nearly $58 million in available cap space entering the offseason, the Broncos can let John Elway loose to re-sign his own players and lure a number of free agents to the Mile High City.
Here’s how the Broncos cap situation stacks up with the rest of the NFL and how it could grow, or shrink, in the coming weeks.
NOTE: All figures are according to Spotrac.com
HOW DENVER STACKS UP IN THE LEAGUE
Denver’s roughly $60 million in cap space puts them in the top 10 in the NFL in available cap space for this season. The Broncos check-in precisely with the eighth-most cap space with $58,027,518 available to them to spend based on the salary cap being set at $199 million.
The NFL announced the salary cap for 2020 will be between $196.8 million and $201.2 million, so Denver’s exact cap total could increase or decrease by a few million based on the exact cap the NFL sets.
The Broncos have significantly more cap space than the current league average, which is $42 million.
After swimming in dead cap recently, the Broncos have the seventh-smallest amount of dead cap in 2020, currently only at $498,484.
It is important to remember that Elway has to save roughly $10 million to sign his draft class, so as it sits now, the Broncos have about $50 million to shell out.
Any unused money this year, if there is any, will roll over to next year’s cap. The Broncos rolled over $12 million from last year’s unused cap.
HOW DENVER STACKS UP IN AFC WEST
The Broncos’ ample cap space gives them the most available money in the entire AFC West. According to Spotrac, the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers have $54.7 million and $51.8 million in cap space, respectively.
While the Chiefs have dominated the division since Peyton Manning left, the other three teams in the division, unsurprisingly, crush Kansas City in terms of cap space. The Super Bowl champs only have $19 million available to them this offseason and likely will be looking to use that money to pay players already on their roster, specifically Patrick Mahomes.
So while the Chiefs clearly own the AFC West, the three other teams have a significant advantage in order to attempt to catch up with them this offseason.
IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Before Elway takes his tens of millions of cap space to the open market, he’ll turn to his own free agents first. And there’s plenty of money the Broncos could spend locking up their own players.
Impending free agents that will be at the top of Elway’s list include Chris Harris Jr., Derek Wolfe and Shelby Harris, with Justin Simmons topping the list.
Both Harris’ will likely top $10 million per year each, if not climb close to $14 million per year, while Wolfe could come in just around $10 million per year or slightly below. Simmons will unquestionably be above the $10 million mark, with Spotrac projecting his market value to be $14.4 million per year.
It appears unlikely Denver will sign all four players, but if they did, those players alone would come in around $50 million per year, leaving not much money to spend on players currently outside the organization.
CAP CASUALTIES
The available $58 million the Broncos have in cap space could just be a starting point. By making a few cuts, Denver could open up significantly more money to spend in free agency.
It’s widely believed Denver will move on from Joe Flacco. By doing so, they would free up just over $10 million in cap space. Additionally, declining Ron Leary’s contract option would save over $8.5 million.
Other players that would free up cap space if Denver cut them are Bryce Callahan, Todd Davis, Jeff Heuerman and Brandon McManus.
Just by making a few of these moves, Elway could easily have over $80 million to spend this offseason to attempt to make the Broncos a playoff team once again.
