The Denver Broncos and free agency: Clearing up some misconceptions

The NFL’s new league year doesn’t officially begin until March 9, but free agency already is upon us.

Franchise tags were allowed to be applied starting Tuesday, and the early free-agent negotiation window opens in less than three weeks.

Welcome to the NFL news cycle that now never ends.

And with the above in mind, it’s time to clear up a few prevailing misconceptions concerning the Denver Broncos’ free-agency situation:

The Broncos are waiting on Peyton Manning’s decision to begin contract talks with Brock Osweiler.

Uh, no – the Orange & Blue simply can’t afford to. Think the any other teams interested in Osweiler are going to wait around? As just mentioned, the Scouting Combine is next week with the league converging on Indianapolis, and anyone who’s followed the NFL more than a year knows that’s when the real courtship ritual really heats up in a hurry – as if there haven’t already been feelers extended to agents. The rest of the league knows the Broncos will be moving on from Manning one way or another this offseason, and John Elway and Co. are just hoping the soon-to-be-40-year-old QB makes the call so they don’t have to before his $19 million 2016 salary – and $21.5 million cap hit – become official March 9. In the meantime there’s no reason to think the Broncos aren’t quietly pursuing a verbal agreement – or at least hammering out the framework for one – with the Osweiler camp before he has a chance to hit the open market.

The Broncos weren’t choosing Derek Wolfe over Malik Jackson last month when they signed the former to pre-playoff contact extension.

False. Intended or not, that was the immediate perception a month ago, and it’s looking more and more like a certainty with each day Jackson moves closer to the open market.  Wolfe signed a four-year extension worth $36.75 million on Jan. 15, ensuring that Denver would at least retain one of its stud defensive ends. And although Jackson’s postseason play didn’t show it, any player with an ounce of pride would have to feel somewhat slighted. Or maybe it was really extra motivated? Follow along: Now the Broncos would be glad to lock up Jackson with a similar deal – they’ve almost certainly already tried several times – but Jackson’s camp knows they can at least do $2-3 mil better (per season) on the market, and the Broncos aren’t going to turn around and slap the already-signed Wolfe in the face by matching the terms. Wolfe made his business decision a month ago, and now Jackson is going about with his.

There’s much more to how Denver’s 2016 salary cap shapes up than its 25 free agents.

This one is an overlooked certainty. Left tackle Ryan Clady and his representatives already have mentioned restructuring his $9.5 million base salary to a more cap-friendly figure, and the same could be explored for pass rusher DeMarcus Ware who’s due to count $11.7 million against the cap in the final year of his deal. Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if other high-priced veteran starters such as Louis Vasquez ($6.75 million cap hit in 2016) and Aqib Talib ($10 million) become candidates for trades, restructures or outright releases. In case you haven’t gotten the hint, the NFL is a ruthless business with no (cap) room for sentimentality.