Broncos Roundtable: What was Denver’s best move of the offseason?

John Elway isn’t a stranger to making offseasons exciting. And the 2020 offseason has been just that.

Since free agency, and thus the trade window, unofficially opened on Mar. 16, Elway has landed three Pro Bowlers and added a total of eight Pro Bowl appearances to his roster. That doesn’t even include Graham Glasgow, who Elway committed the most money to this offseason.

So what has been Elway’s best move of the offseason? The DNVR Crew gives their take.

WHAT WAS DENVER’S BEST MOVE OF THE OFFSEASON?

Zac

Trading for Jurrell Casey — It’s hard to find a single downside with Vic Fangio’s new disruptive defensive lineman. Casey’s been to five-consecutive Pro Bowls, is the 27th-highest-paid defensive lineman in terms of cap hit and only cost the Broncos a seventh-round pick to acquire him.

What. A. Steal.

Additionally, Casey’s on the books through 2022 at reasonable cap hits of $12.2 million and $13.8 million, he’s the Titans two-time Walter Payton Man of the Year and brings a wealth of leadership to the defensive line room.

On the field, he’s just as good, too. In fact, in the last seven years, Casey’s had three five-sack seasons. Any time a Bronco defensive lineman has topped five sacks, that’s been applauded. Those three seasons — 2014, 2016 and 2019 — have been Casey’s worst seasons in terms of sacks in the past seven years.

The 6-foot-1, 305-pound lineman, has multiple seven-sack seasons and had 10.5 sacks in 2013. Additionally, Casey is stout against the run, too. At 30 years old, Casey is ready to hit the ground running from the jump.

Despite all of the numbers being in Casey’s favor, him being the best acquisition of the offseason isn’t as much of a slam dunk as it would appear. In fact, I love the Glasgow signing, despite him being the only big name that hasn’t appeared in a Pro Bowl, he will provide much-needed stability and versatility to the line.

Saying that, however, Casey still takes the cake.

Ryan

Signing Sam Martin — Just kidding.

Cutting Joe Flacco — Sorry, sorry.

Re-signing Shelby Harris — Okay, this one is for real.

The Broncos made a bunch of great moves this offseason, but none of them come close to this ratio of cost to production.

Last season, Shelby Harris notched six sacks in 11 games after being moved back to his rightful position of defensive end after a brutal experiment at nose tackle. We always say that, in a contract year, sacks are worth a million dollars a piece, so even if those six sacks came in 16 games at DE, we’re still talking about at least $6 Million per season on a new contract.

But, with that said, Spotrac has his projected market value at double that, over $12 Million per season!

In what may have been the value deal of free agency, the Broncos got Harris on a one-year deal worth just over $3 Million. Just about 1/4 of what was projected.

With the addition of Jurrell Casey to replace Derek Wolfe, Denver has now put together a scary defensive front.

Mase

Trading for A.J. Bouye — It’s all about the cost, and just like Casey, Bouye gave the Broncos what they needed without matching the price point of free agents such as Byron Jones and James Bradberry, who signed with the Dolphins and Giants, respectively.

Jones received $46 million in guarantees. Bradberry got $31 million. Even Xavien Howard, who had been cut by the Vikings and signed with the Colts, received more than $27 million in guarantees.

Denver’s guarantee to Bouye? $0. All of it was paid out by the Jaguars in the first three years of his five-year contract.

The Broncos have Bouye at a cap number of $13,437,000 for 2020, according to OvertheCap.com. If Bouye struggles in 2020, the Broncos can cut him with no dead money on his contract; if he plays like the No. 1 cornerback the Broncos expect him to be, they will be happy to pay the $13.5 million they would owe him for 2021.

While Bouye is not as accomplished as Chris Harris Jr., he is a better scheme fit than Harris, and should flourish in Fangio’s zone-based scheme. The Jaguars veered away from this emphasis last year, but Bouye should feel right at home with the Broncos.