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Next offseason, the Broncos will have a high number of unrestricted free agents to address. As of this publication, that stands at 21 players, and I identify 12 of those that could be important to retain beyond 2021. Normally, I would write up examinations of potential extensions for some of these players. This year, however, I believe there is so much uncertainty with nearly all these players that it would not be worthwhile to offer detailed contract examples at this point. Instead, I believe we need, at the very least, to see how these players do in training camp, and perhaps some regular season play as well, before we can get a better idea on what fair future compensation is, for both the team and the player.

Here's a list of the players in question, and what we should be looking for on the field to help determine their contractual futures in the NFL.

At the conclusion of each Broncos season, I pave out a road map as to what my suggestions are to improve the roster. At this time of year, most relevant roster decisions have been made. Thus, as always, it's a good time to evaluate my road map as compared to what the Broncos actually did, keeping me honest and making sure that I address anything I got wrong.

Per Field Yates:

Simmons's contract table can be found beyond the fold:

Per Aaron Wilson:

Darby's contract table should look as follows, below the fold:

Per Aaron Wilson:

Harris's contract table should look as follows, below the fold:

The Broncos will enter a new era of football leadership, with John Elway moving on to a presidential role with the team for 2021, and hiring a GM that will take over the duties of improving the team.

And that new GM is going to have some pressure to improve immediately, because what has happened recently is simply not Denver Broncos football. Five straight seasons of missing the playoffs. Four straight losing seasons. 29th in DVOA. Swept by the Chiefs for five straight seasons. Swept by the Raiders--the Raiders!--for the first time since the rock bottom season of 2010. This is unacceptable. Yes, injuries and a pandemic have taken their toll. But that should only raise the expectations further for 2021, and expectations should always be high in Denver.

As always, here my annual recommendations on how to turn things around for the positive.

Per Ryan O'Halloran:

According to a league source who has viewed the full contract, here are the details:
*The deal is four years and $68 million (average of $17 million).
*The full guarantee is $40 million.
*The signing bonus is $20 million.
*The three-year cash is $39,969,383.
*The salary cap hits … $7.5 million (2020), $5 million (2021), $21 million (2022), $18 million (2023) and $20 million (2024).
*Bolles’ 2021 base salary, although only $1 million, is already guaranteed.
*Bolles’ 2022 base salary is fully guaranteed by the fifth day of the ’21 league year (March).
*In 2023, $2 million of Bolles’ base salary is guaranteed for injury-only and the base salary is fully guaranteed by the fifth day of the ’23 league year.

These details should translate to the following contract table:

In the spirit of Thanksgiving week, here are the paths each team (except for the Jets, who have already been eliminated at 0-10) can follow to fulfill their hopes of making the playoffs. And to make this especially sunny for each team, each scenario linked will contain a combination of the highest seed possible for the team in question and/or also inflicting maximum misery upon each team's division rivals.

The Broncos and Justin Simmons failed to come to agreement on a multiyear extension last offseason after Denver tendered $11.411 million for his services in 2020 on the franchise tag. What can be done to bridge the gap in 2021?

Garett Bolles has made the most of the final year of his rookie contract, the pending expiration made so after the Broncos declined his fifth year option. His OTC valuation has been one of the greatest deals at the position, coming in at well over $18 million over the season. What lies ahead for his contractual future with the Broncos?