Broncos Contracts

So we’re three days away from the Super Bowl, and no matter what happens, that will the conclusion of the Broncos’ outstanding 2015 season. For John Elway and the front office, there will be time to either celebrate or grieve, but that time will be limited. That’s because Elway will face what will easily be the most challenging offseason during his tenure as general manager. There is much that needs to be done, and it needs to be done in only a month’s time, as the start of the 2016 league year—and thus free agency—is on March 9. So, because I may not get time to post this promptly after the Super Bowl, I’ll provide you with my 17-point road map as to how I would navigate the rocky offseason terrain that lies immediately ahead. Suffice to say, with 17 points it’s highly likely that not all of them will be fulfilled to my satisfaction, either to Elway wanting a different direction or players disagreeing on their value. But barring something truly extraordinary on Sunday I doubt the Super Bowl is going to change my mind much.Read more...

You can find the details, all in their glory, at this link.  You know the big picture for the Broncos by now, but there are three Broncos-centric points that I'll emphasize here:

• Julius Thomas has been going back and forth on the 3rd/4th cutoff bubble, so it's only fitting that he now is the cutoff bubble.  That's literal: Thomas was the representative player as the 104th highest ranking player in the league in the regular season out of 2088 total, barely making the top 5%.  However, if my rankings are off by just one or two players, or my snap count adjustments are off, Thomas could just as easily be a 4th instead.  Prepare yourselves equally for either to happen.
• Owen Daniels also barely squeezed his way above the 5th/6th cutoff, and he could go either way as well.  That doesn't matter for the Broncos, as he'll cancel out Rahim Moore no matter what he's valued.  But it will improve the comp pick the Ravens are projected to get for Daniels up to a 5th rounder.
• I did lay out one possible scenario in which the Broncos could get a fourth comp pick, a 7th for Jacob Tamme, but so much has to go right for them that I'd consider it a Lloyd Christmas type chance, akin to the Colts' Week 17 playoff hopes.  Count on the Broncos getting just three comp picks for the 2016 NFL Draft.

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Ian Rapaport has the screenshots of both changes:

• Trading of compensatory picks, effective in 2017
• Anti-tampering exemption reduced to two days before start of free agency

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Earlier today, Jason Fitzgerald at Over The Cap notified me of a salary cap charge that the Broncos incurred today. In doing the math and looking at some team history that I’ll explain beyond the fold, the best guess as to what this cap charge is all about is that former Bronco Tony Carter may have filed a grievance against the team.Read more...

I wrote a more in-depth article at Over The Cap on the subject, but I'd thought I'd quickly deliver the newish developments for the Broncos.  There's one piece of each of good and bad news.Read more...

Unless some major contractual development happens until the 2015 season ends for the Broncos, this will likely be my last rather lengthy take on what lies ahead for the team in this regard. Things could change a lot as we learn about the state of the Broncos after 2015 is in the books, but I think it’s good to lay out what challenges are ahead so that we can be aware of them as this year progresses. UPDATE (4:17 PM MT): Well, just my luck that a major contractual development takes place mere hours after I finished this.  The Broncos signed Evan Mathis to a one-year deal worth up to $4 million.  This takes their combined 2015/2016 cap space down to potentially $13 million.  The post has been updated with this news, and may be updated further as we learn more about Mathis's deal. Read more...

When I last discussed the possibility of extending Brock Osweiler, I expressed a difficulty in doing so because there was scant precedent for a player in his situation--a quarterback with several years in the league but hardly enough playing time to know on what side of the wide divide of starting quarterbacks his pay should reside. Last week, we got what could be the closest comparable possible.  Nick Foles, who not only entered the league the same year as Osweiler, but was also his in-state college rival, signed an extension with the Rams.  I've been waiting on the details to come out before I comment on what this means for Osweiler, and they finally came out earlier this afternoon via Aaron Wilson and Jason La Canfora on Twitter.  You can find the full table from OTC beyond the fold.Read more...

After some nerve-wracking hours, Broncos fans generally felt quite relieved at the very close of Franchise Tag Deadline Day with Demaryius Thomas agreeing to terms on a long-term extension. I’ve let us all celebrate over that news for a couple of days. But as we move into next week, we do need to now come back to earth a bit. One of the Broncos’ division rivals just delivered a contract blockbuster that raised the market for one of its own impending stars entering a contract year. When the Chiefs awarded Justin Houston a six-year, $101 million extension, thoughts of who would be next in line for that kind of money should have immediately focused on Von Miller.Read more...

When I read the quote within this title in Troy Renck's mailbag over the weekend, I really didn't think much of it one way or the other.  But now that bigger outlets like PFT are picking up on Renck's line, I felt that an explanation is needed as to why it needs to be understood with more context.Read more...

As I’ve written on other Broncos on or entering contract years (Demaryius Thomas, Brock Osweiler), as well as commented on other articles, I’ve given hints as to my opinion on how negotiations would go with the most important player coming up on a new deal. Thus, I should put my entire thoughts on the matter in a full article.Read more...