In my previous post, I sorted the Salaries for the Offensive Line not only for the Denver Broncos, but as they compared to the rest of the NFL. Today we will look at the Defensive Line investment for each team and see where the buck stops. The Broncos front foursome had Robert Ayers, Brodrick Bunkley, Marcus Thomas and Elvis Dumervil starting and we all know those two middlemen need to be paid or replaced. Once again, please keep in mind that these are mostly the Base Salary figures. However some bonuses are included because of the known contract numbers and how they were stated from the research sites (Rotoworld, Spotrac and Yahoo). I separated the team that used the 3-4 personnel look from those that use the 4-3 and since it is pertinent, I broke down our opponents in the AFC West for this exercise too.
Teams that use the 4-3 defense (Numerical figures are expressed in Millions)
| Team | 2011 | 2012 | Free Agents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | $21.38 | $14.56 | |
| Atlanta Falcons | $17.90 | $10.60 | John Abraham |
| Minnesota Vikings | $17.42 | $21.55 | |
| Denver Broncos | $16.52 | $14.96 | Brodrick Bunkley, Marcus Thomas |
| Indianapolis Colts | $15.56 | $15.56 | Robert Mathis |
| Chicago Bears | $14.52 | $10.12 | Israel Idonije |
| Detroit Lions | $13.42 | $19.20 | Cliff Avril |
| Philadelphia Eagles | $10.18 | $17.75 | |
| New York Giants | $9.58 | $10.52 | |
| Seattle Seahawks | $9.36 | $10 | Red Bryant |
| St. Louis Rams | $8.32 | $9.63 | |
| Cincinnati Bengals | $7.94 | $8.43 | |
| New Orleans Saints | $7.63 | $7.46 | Aubrayo Franklin |
| Carolina Panthers | $4.78 | $5.70 | Sione Fua's salary is missing for both years |
| Cleveland Browns | $4.10 | $9.24 | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | $2.66 | $8.49 | |
| Tennessee Titans | $1.85 | $1.78 | Jason Jones |
| New England Patriots | $1.58 | $4.99 | Kyle Love (ERFA) Mark Anderson (UFA) |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | $1.28 | $1.78 | Leger Douzable (RFA) Jeremy Mincey (UFA) |
We will look at the 3-4 Teams in their own chart since there is a personnel difference.
| Team | 2011 | 2012 | Free Agents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | $17.41 | $3.73 | Paul Soliai, Kendall Langford |
| San Francisco 49ers | $12.80 | $13.68 | |
| Houston Texans | $10.18 | $10.56 | |
| Washington Redskins | $7.62 | $6.65 | Adam Carriker |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | $7.54 | $8.32 | |
| Kansas City Chiefs | $7.12 | $4.69 | Kelly Gregg |
| Dallas Cowboys | $5.62 | $8.28 | |
| Baltimore Ravens | $4.90 | $3.40 | Cory Redding |
| Arizona Cardinals | $4.86 | $5.35 | Calais Campbell |
| Buffalo Bills | $4.58 | $5.39 | |
| Green Bay Packers | $4.24 | $7.22 | |
| New York Jets | $3.91 | $2.65 | Sione Pouha |
| San Diego Chargers | $1.50 | $1.06 | Antonio Garay |
The AFC West breaks down like this:
San Diego Chargers -
Not many can ascertain what goes on in the minds of the Raiders brain-trust, but since they now have a new Boss, new General Manager and new Head coach, changes are sure to come.
5 recs | 50 comments
What about Tamba Hali?
Isn’t he a DE for the chiefs? Or is he considered a LB?
go4broncos - February 3, 2012
hes considered olb
David Swanson - February 3, 2012 via mobile
Ty Warren will enter in this mix as well as I feel he may displace Thomas.
Thanks for this series Kaptain.
firstfan - February 3, 2012
Ty Warren
I don’t he’ll stay (at least, not without a contract reestructuring), since this year he made 1.5M and in 2012 he is supposed to make 4.0M.
We have one of the most expensives DL in NFL (talking about the 4-3s), it doesn’t make sense to me.
Fabio Broncos - February 4, 2012
If we rank in the top 10 at stopping the run and getting to the QB I'll be ok with a high DL price tag.
Once we consistently start drafting guys for the DL then we’ll have a dominant DL along with a reasonable price tag like the Giants and Ravens.
My vote is to draft a DT or two and bring in Jeremy Mincy as a FA. The DTs in the draft will be cheap (due to the rookie wage scale) and Mincy might cost but he’ll be much better than Doom (salary wise). I think we can re-sign Bunkley and Thomas for team friendly salaries.
BroncoMath101 - February 3, 2012
14 mil
Is a pretty high price to pay, for a one sided, pass rushing DE that accounted for only 9.5 sacks.
Hopefully Del Rio can find a way to get doom back to a sack figure like 17.
e_saites - February 3, 2012 via Android app
Doom's contract is
going to haunt us, IMO.
Digger24 - February 3, 2012
Well considering that he was injured for much of the beginning of the season, i’d say 9.5 sacks is a respectable number. After he got healthy, we saw him wreck havoc like the Doom we all remember.
jbbroncosfan27 - February 3, 2012 via mobile
If we can find a DT with pocket collapsing ability and another DT that commands double teams then I could see Doom getting close to that number again.
BroncoMath101 - February 3, 2012
Dumervil was the real deal when he was healthy. He was solid at stopping the run as well.
Miller and Dumervil were one of the reasons why the broncos went on a big winning streak. Also Dumervil was just a monster in the playoffs.
tiderfootball09 - February 3, 2012
I guess...
this is proof you don’t always get what you pay for.
Mee - February 3, 2012
Kirk, isn't DE Mario Williams, Texans due 18M this year?
bfree2bronc - February 3, 2012
He's FA
Digger24 - February 3, 2012
He also played OLB for Kubes in 2011
That is why he wasn’t listed.
KaptainKirk - February 3, 2012
I covet
Israel Idonije, Paul Soliai and Kendall Langford, in no particular order. Whether or not these are feasible commodities is not my call but I trust EFX. Thanks Kaptain, nicely done, as always! Defensive line should be our #1 priority, if we get a dominant D-line, we will rule the NFL in a few years, if not sooner!
the new Bradfather - February 3, 2012
Weren't we targeting Kendall Langford as part of the Orton trade at one point? I would love to pick him up as well.
BroncoMath101 - February 3, 2012
I remember
back in August posting that I wanted Kendall Langford in exchange for Orton, but I didn’t know we planned to. It would show EFX cares what I think…
the new Bradfather - February 3, 2012
And well they should, Bradfather!
CH74 - February 3, 2012
I thought I read a rumor somewhere that they were trying to get him as part of the trade. maybe it was John Clayton saying it. who knows :)
BroncoMath101 - February 3, 2012
Got some good bucks in this one for sure.
I hope Pat has some deep pockets.
metalman5050 - February 3, 2012
Nice work Kap
Automatik41 - February 3, 2012
money well spent
now get me a stud dt, trim the fat, and let’s get cooking!
davecheffy - February 3, 2012
the bucs have to spend more than this
they have a #3 pick on their D-line. Or does he not count because he is hurt?
Mike Agnew - February 3, 2012
I may have missed a few starters that dot injured Mike
I used the depth charts from the individual team sites on NFL.com and Yahoo to build from. I did pay closer attention to the AFC West, but I admit I’m not as familiar with some of the other teams. Here is what I have for them.
Brian Price (2011:$405K, 2012:$490K) Albert Haynesworth (2011:$1.5M, 2012:$6.7M)
Da’Quan Bowers (2011:$375K, 2012:$550,256) Adrian Clayborn (2011:$375K, 2012:$748,189)
If the math isn’t exact, I did round off the numbers.
KaptainKirk - February 3, 2012
yeah I meant more about Gerald McCoy
He has to be expensive for them right?
Mike Agnew - February 4, 2012
Ok
Yeah, I didn’t pay attention that he went on IR in November, so when I checked the depth charts, they had changed.
Gerald McCoy (2011: $873,750, 2012: $1,447,500)
He would change places with Brian Price.
Re-figuring for that and the numbers change to — 2011: $3.12M, 2012: $9.45M
KaptainKirk - February 4, 2012
Restructure, spread the wealth, and diversify
Get us a stud UT in the draft!
Thanks Kap, good stuff as always.
CH74 - February 3, 2012
Just because we have a ton of money wrapped up
in the D-line doesn’t mean we’re that good. It just means we spent a lot of money, particularly on Doom. For all the talk about trading DJ because of his contract, I say Doom should also be on that list of possible trade pieces. He’s making an awful lot of money, money that could be spread around to other players / areas that might actually be able to stay healthy full time to earn it. Just my .02.
postpunk27 - February 3, 2012
Thats why I said restructure
It’s unlikely with Von, Doom ever sniffs 17 sacks again. We can lower his hit without shipping him out though. He got that contract as a LB, DEs make a little less. His deal should be restructured accordingly.
CH74 - February 3, 2012
Champ has a big money contract too.
Champ Bailey (2011:$6M, 2012: $7.5M (+$7M roster bonus)
KaptainKirk - February 3, 2012
This is true.
Of the three players though, I’d have to think that Doom would be the most appealing to another team. Champ is probably here to finish out his career, and I don’t think we would get fair value for DJ if we were to move him, frankly. At least not according to some of the mocks w/ trade scenarios I’ve read here lately. Doom is still pretty much in the prime of his career. He would be the piece that would allow us to stockpile, as it were. Again, just my opinion. Hopefully we can keep them all and just add to the mix, but players come and go every year. We’ll just have to sit back and wait to see what goes down at the draft in April. Only two more months!
postpunk27 - February 3, 2012
I hope Doom has better numbers next year too
That would be comforting (to say the least). For that Salary, he needs to dominate like the other players with the same stats and salary, like Jared Allen and Dwight Freeney.
I don’t think we need to trade him, but I agree that he is the most appealing.
KaptainKirk - February 3, 2012
To Dumervil's credit, he was coming off an injury.
I’d say starting with the Miami game and on, Dumervil was a top 5 DE. He was stuffing the run and getting after the passer. I wouldn’t even think about trading Dumervil for anyone. Dumervil and Miller are the foundations of the defense. Those guys alone, won the broncos at least a couple of games. They are one of the deadiest combinations of pass rushers in the NFL. I would only put the Giants ahead of them.
tiderfootball09 - February 4, 2012
Not sure how that is to his credit.
That is precisely why I said he would be the piece to move. I won’t say he’s “always” hurt, but he is hurt more than a player making the kind of $$$ he’s making ought to be. He was great down the stretch, but don’t you want your star players playing in as many games as possible? That simply hasn’t been the case with Doom. Again, just my opinion.
postpunk27 - February 4, 2012
Just my opinion, EFX trading Dumervil would be stupid.
tiderfootball09 - February 4, 2012
It wouldn't be the first time
a coach and GM did something stupid.
postpunk27 - February 4, 2012
I find it amusing that we just hired THE salary cap guru Sullivan...
Former capologist Bluem’s contract wasn’t renewed and one has to wonder if some of the bigger named players who have come into Denver and didn’t get signed was the reason. This upcoming free agency is going to be interesting for sure, because it could give us some hints of who we might draft in the first couple of rounds. John Elway is looking at every angle and no stone unturned to make this team better…
Also… read today that former NFL great DE Deacon Jones said that DE Mario Williams is the second greatest DE of all time… Mmm…
bfree2bronc - February 3, 2012
I love these post KK, great work. Thanks!
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 3, 2012
The Giants $$$ surprises me.
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 3, 2012
Patriots
How can the Patriots pay so little for so much production Captain?
Baghdad - February 4, 2012
They have great talent evaluators
and Belichick is a shrewd man. I recentky read a story where they have 18 Undrafted Free Agents on their roster. Those guys come cheap.
KaptainKirk - February 4, 2012
The latest buzz
is Ryan Mallett. What could they get for picks for Mallett?
Digger24 - February 4, 2012
I don't think many would give more than a 3rd for him if that.
Especially since that is where he was drafted. But the price tag is whatever the market will bear.
KaptainKirk - February 4, 2012
Doom's a good player, but he's not worth $14 million, not with his recent production and injuries
That’d be like paying Kyle Orton $9 million in a year.
Oh wait….
AlwaysRightSometimes - February 4, 2012
Sure, but he is being rewarded for that 17 Sack season
and the ,70 Sacks per game that he’s had throughout his career. He outplayed his rookie contract and now the pendulum has swung back to even things out. You get paid from your past performance and the bet is for future production. We know it doesn’t always pan out that way, but consider this. Is Doom one of those who just wanted the big pay day and then laid down? IMO, I don’t think so. I will admit freely to being an optimist, but I think he will have a stronger year in 2012 barring injury.
KaptainKirk - February 4, 2012
I agree. Let's face it, Doom isn't going anywhere.
I’m very curious to see what Ty Warren has left. I also really hope Von will return to form. He was not the same after his injury and it was entirely noticeable. We need our #2 overall pick at 100% if this defense wants to go anywhere but downhill.
postpunk27 - February 4, 2012
Kap, I hope Doom picks up his production...
But one season as the sack leader does not make for a $60 million contract IMO. Champ Bailey has been a perenial all-star every year he has played, and his quality of play never really has any drops.
He’s worth that kind of money. Doom was really a one year wonder, with a decent year following the 17 sacks. That’s too much money for a guy who doesn’t put up 13-17 sacks every season.
AlwaysRightSometimes - February 4, 2012
Great series Kirk
Thank you for sharing.
Fabio Broncos - February 4, 2012
Do we believe that Warren would be and hopefully will be a starter?
Because I believe he got a pretty nice contract right?
Mike Agnew - February 4, 2012
At $4Mil for 2012, I think so
KaptainKirk - February 4, 2012
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