ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The first wave of free agency is over.
In the first official 48 hours of the NFL new league year, the Denver Broncos made multiple splash moves, including trading for Russell Wilson and signing D.J. Jones and Randy Gregory.
On Friday, Gregory and George Paton spoke to the media, in what turned out to be a very informative press conference.
Here’s what we learned about the moves the Broncos have made and the deals that are in the works.
Randy Gregory was a top priority
Randy Gregory wasn’t the top name on the market. Heck, he wasn’t even the top name among the pass rushers available in free agency. But the Broncos weren’t caught up in the big names on the market.
“He was one of our top free agent priorities throughout,” Paton stated about the former Cowboys pass rusher. “We needed to add a difference maker. I feel like we haven Randy Gregory. We feel like Randy is an impact-type player. When you look at the free agent class, he stood out just the way he plays the game.”
Gregory jumped out to the Broncos this past year when Denver played against Gregory in Dallas.
“He’s a guy we had to game plan for,” Paton stated. “He puts the fear in the offensive coordinators because he can impact the game at any time. When you watch Randy on tape, the thing that really sticks out his his passion for the game. How hard he plays every down. In the run game, very disruptive.”
In terms of big-time names on the market, there was no bigger name that Von Miller. When asked if they had interest in the former Bronco, Paton quickly pointed to their interest in Gregory instead.
“Randy was out priority. Randy Gregory was our priority in free agency,” Paton said firmly. “We wish Von the best. He’s going to do great things in Buffalo.”
The 29-year-old pass rusher felt the love from Denver right away. And that made a massive impact on him deciding to move to the Mile high City.
“From the point we were able to have discussions here in free agency, Denver, they’ve been relentless,” Gregory said. “I really felt like, not only felt like they needed me here, but wanted me here. I really wanted to go somewhere where I was valued and wanted and had a strong connection, not only with the culture and guys, but with the front office and thew hole organization. That’s been big for me as far as my success is just feeling like I’m comfortable, wanted and valued in my personal and professional space.”
Randy Gregory wanted to be wanted. The Broncos accomplished that from the get-go.
Recruiter Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He may also be one of the best recruiters in the league too.
“Russell Wilson was probably, if not the top reason, one of the top reasons why I was able to get out here just because of his ability to reach out and stay relentless,” Gregory said.
Not only is Russ’ presence in Denver a big selling point to free agents, but the star QB appears to be a star recruiter as well.
“Even Russell Wilson, he called me probably eight times that first night and even that morning,” Gregory said on Friday during his introductory press conference, revealing Wilson’s strong push to get the pass rusher to Denver.
“He hit me up a lot. That first night I was afraid to answer back. A lot of uncertainty with everything going on, I woke up that next morning and the first text I saw was from him again,” Gregory said with a smile. “Then he sent me another one and I was like—and mind you, he was FaceTiming me throughout this whole entire process. Just having him there in the back of my mind, it really helped. And being able to sit down and talk to him on FaceTime.
“There’s a certain image he has out in the public and it was funny—I was telling my parents, I was telling my wife—I was like, ‘he’s literally what he is out in the public. He’s coming from a Children’s Hospital, taking the time to call a guy that he’s trying to bring to the team,'” Gregory continued. “So talking to him and talking about the culture, talking about the guys. We talked about real estate, the areas to live in, things like that. I got to say hi to Ciara, his wife, so it was a real fun experience. It was real stressful begin free agency. But the staff here, from top to bottom, and then obviously Russell, the way he handled it made this whole process that much easier.”
Mind you, on Monday night, when Wilson’s aggressive push to bring Gregory to Denver was occurring, Russell hadn’t even officially been introduced as a Bronco.
Yet he was already all-in with wanting to help the Broncos in every way he can.
“It’s beneficial when I can text the franchise quarterback and then that night he calls the guy eight times. That’s special,” Paton said about the role Wilson played in recruiting players during free agency. “Especially when it’s someone like Russell Wilson and all he’s accomplished. He has a busy life, big family and he’ll drop everything, whether he’s at a children’s hospital or he’s with his family to FaceTime with Randy Gregory. So it’s pretty cool. I know he did so with D.J. and some of the other guys we talked to.”
“He’s very helpful there because he’s all in. He’s a very good recruiter I’ve learned,” Paton added.
George Paton now has a major resource to help bring talent to Denver.
Russell Wilson extension will happen
In today’s quarterback market, Denver’s new quarterback is a bargain with a cap hit of $24 million in 2022 and $27 million in 2023. Because of that, and the leverage the modern-day QB has, Wilson could absolutely ask for a new contract at any point.
But that has not happened. Yet.
Once it does, unsurprisingly, Paton and the Broncos will be “open” to giving Wilson an extension.
“We obviously want him here a long time, but nothing is imminent. I’m sure we’ll talk here soon,” the general manager added. “But we didn’t make this trade to not have him here for a very long time.”
Wilson received great news on Friday with Deshaun Watson’s five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract. If fully guaranteed deals become the norm, Wilson will be in line for a similar deal.
More moves coming
The first wave of free agency is coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean the Broncos are done.
After trading for Wilson, Denver had $26 million in cap space entering free agency. According to Paton on Friday afternoon, the team’s cap space is “getting low,” but they still “have enough room to do a few things.”
Moments after Paton’s comment, Mike Klis reported that Denver restructured Tim Patrick’s contract to save the Broncos $4.6 million in cap space.
Shortly after that, on Friday evening, Denver signed quarterback Josh Johnson and linebacker Alex Singleton.
Not done at right tackle
Despite making a move on the offensive line in the first wave of free agency, Paton made it clear the Broncos aren’t done, specifically at right tackle.
“The tackle position, we signed Tom Compton, feel good about him, Calvin (Anderson),” Paton said when asked about right tackle. “And we’re going to continue to add in the offensive line, whether free agency or the draft, we still have nine picks and feel good about those picks. A second and two thirds, we feel good about that. Two fours in the top 10.”
Bobby Massie, who was Denver’s starting right tackle last year, is still a free agent and will likely be affordable.
“We’re going to keep addressing our team, addressing the line and we still have some cap room to do some things and we have a lot of draft capital as well,” Paton added.
Secondary help incoming
On Friday afternoon, Paton made it very clear the Broncos need more help in the secondary.
When asked if cornerback is a top priority, Paton confirmed “it is.”
“We need to add a corner at some point, or two,” the general manager said. “We have some of our UFAs we’re talking to and we’ll keep monitoring the waiver and guys who get cut and the corners that are still available. But we need to add a corner or two, definitely.”
One of those corners could be a familiar face in Bryce Callahan.
“We’re talking to Kareem (Jackson’s) folks as well as Bryce (Callahan’s),” Paton admitted. “We’d like both of them back. Both are really good players, good leaders.”
With Davante Adams, Hunter Renfrow, Tyreek Hill, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in the division, Denver can’t have enough quality corners.
Replacing Noah Fant
After trading former first-round pick Noah Fant to acquire Wilson, the Broncos are looking to add to the tight end room.
“We feel good about Albert (Okwuegbunam),” Paton said. “We want to bring in some competition for him and we’re looking and I’m sure we’ll address it in the draft.”
Earlier in the week, Denver signed veteran blocking tight end Eric Tomlinson to compliment Fant, who the Broncos remain high on.
“Albert has everything you want in a tight end,” Paton added. “He’s big. He’s athletic. He’s strong. He needs to work on his blocking a little bit, but he’s a mismatch type guy that I know Coach (Nathaniel) Hackett really values. So we’re really high on Albert.”
