Free Agency: Who must the Broncos re-sign?

With all the dust settled from the good guys bringing the Lombardi trophy back to the Mile High city,  the long wait for the 2016 season begins. Before Denver can start their quest to repeat as kings, they must slay the dragon that is free agency.

Every team must go through the same arduous process that is the NFL offseason, a time for players with expiring contracts to dip their feet in and test the waters of what other teams can offer that their current ones cannot. Mainly, money is the biggest deterrent when it comes to players leaving the places they call home and relocating to a new city, new teammates, and new system. All teams go through this and contract negotiations are never fun, but, Denver has one chip all other 31 teams don’t; the most recent Super Bowl victory.

Free agency can be both a scary and rewarding time for any organization, you lose big time players and see your roster shift in unexpected ways, but you also have the opportunity to bring in game-changers to help your team succeed.

Vice President of football operations John Elway has always had a keen eye when it comes to scouting talent and luring big name players to play for the Orange & Blue. Some of the key free agent acquisitions under the Elway regime sound like a pro-bowl roster: Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, Emmanuel Sanders, and DeMarcus Ware just to name a few of the key players Elway brought in to help bolster the roster on its way to a Super Bowl victory. Oh, and some guy Named Peyton Manning, he came too after being cut by the Colts.

Now that Denver has won the Super Bowl, any name attached to the team has a higher price tag in the FA market; unfortunately, that is not good news for the Broncos. Denver will undoubtedly lose a few players to the market. Here is how the entire list of players currently on the roster and how much their contract is currently worth.

UFA = Unrestricted Free Agent. These players are free to take a contract from any team in the league. The former team has no control over the player.

RFA = Restricted Free Agent. A restricted free agent is one with three accrued seasons (six or more regular season games with a team) of service, who has received a “qualifying” offer (a salary level predetermined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players, known as a “tender”) from his current club. He can negotiate with any club through a certain date. If the restricted free agent accepts an offer sheet from a new club, his old club has “right of first refusal,” a five-day period in which it may match the offer and retain him, or choose not to match the offer, in which case it may receive one or more draft picks for the upcoming draft from the player’s new club. If an offer sheet is not executed, the player’s rights revert to his old club the day after negotiations must end.

ERFA = Exclusive Rights Free Agent. Exclusive-rights free agents are players with two or fewer seasons of service time and whose contracts have expired. If their team tenders a qualifying offer (a one-year contract usually at league-minimum salary) the player has no negotiating rights with other teams, and must either sign the tender with the team or sit out the season.

Player Type Current Avg./Year ▾

ERFA
Todd Davis ERFA $930,000
Sam Brenner ERFA $510,000
Brandon McManus ERFA $465,000
Bennie Fowler ERFA $435,000
Matt Paradis ERFA $435,000

RFA
Brandon Marshall RFA $585,000
Lerentee McCray RFA $500,667
C.J. Anderson RFA $499,167

UFA
Vernon Davis UFA $7,350,000
Von Miller UFA $5,250,094
Evan Mathis UFA $3,250,000
Antonio Smith UFA $2,000,000
David Bruton UFA $1,500,000
Andre Caldwell UFA $1,350,000
Ryan Harris UFA $920,000
Brock Osweiler UFA $879,170
Tyler Polumbus UFA $870,000
Ronnie Hillman UFA $750,208
Kyle Williams UFA $745,000
Shiloh Keo UFA $745,000
Jordan Norwood UFA $695,000
Josh Bush UFA $660,000
Omar Bolden UFA $643,607
Malik Jackson UFA $578,403
Danny Trevathan UFA $551,018

Now I know, this a long list of players and not all of them will return but there are three key players that Denver MUST address before the draft on April 28th. Losing players such as Shiloh Keo, Evan Mathis, and Vernon Davis will also help in the process.

First things first, John Elway and staff must make sure Von Miller Spends his entire career in the Mile High city. The talks around the NFL is that Denver will franchise tag the Super Bowl MVP for one season and restructure his contract after next season so they have the cap space to sign other important players. After next year, Miller will, in all likelihood, be the highest paid defensive player in the game after his dominant playoff run. There is no replacement for Miller; Denver must sign him to a long-term deal after next season.

Second on my list is Malik Jackson. The young defensive end for the Broncos had a solid season, racking up 45 total tackles and five sacks. Not mind-blowing numbers, but like I said earlier, he now has a Super Bowl under his belt so his numbers will inflate. Jackson is most likely to be the biggest name to leave for another team. The Oakland raiders are showing strong interest in the 26-year old defensive end and are willing to overpay for talent like they have in the past.

If Jackson decides to leave the team that drafted him, there are replacement players Denver could sign via free agency. One name that comes to mind is Kendall Reyes from San Diego. Reyes is a younger end with similar stats as Jackson, with half the contract value. Somebody will overpay for Jackson, it just won’t be the Denver Broncos. Besides, this is why extending the contract of fellow DE Derek Wolfe was so important.

Lastly, we have Brock Osweiler. This is where the free agency games get tricky. How much do you pay a career backup? Is it worth letting him walk and drafting a QB knowing the defense will be stellar once again? These questions cannot be answered until the decision whether to retire or not is made by Peyton Manning. Assuming Manning is not in a Denver uniform for the 2016 season, which leaves $19 Million dollars on the table, it would be used in negation talks. Like Jackson, Osweiler has the Super Bowl Experience and played well for the seven starts he had during the regular season. Now, the young quarterback shined under center this season, but was it worth the money he will now demand?

Teams from all around the NFL are always in need of a young, smart quarterback like Osweiler this time of year, somebody will make an offer and he might decide to take the money and run. If that does happen, Denver would be on the lookout for a QB to command the offense and not turn the ball over. Names such as Dak Prescott from Mississippi State, or Connor Cook from Michigan State would fit nicely in the Kubiak system. Strong, Pocket Passers thrive in the thin air that is Denver, Colorado.

There are also talks of former rookie of the year Robert Griffin III being a candidate for what might be the open roster spot. Signing Griffin would be the gutsiest move in the career of Elway, but for now, it is only speculations.

There is enough young talent on this team to take the hit that is veteran players leaving. The free agent frenzy is at hand and Denver is right smack dab in the middle of it all, let the fun begin. Even though there are 26 more Sundays until football season, football never sleeps.