Now that the Super Bowl is over, fans from across the NFL can begin to focus on 2012. Over the next month, the Broncos - and 31 other teams - will continue to create their plans for the Reloading Season, and prepare for both the NFL Draft and the start of Free Agency.
Over the next several days we will be focusing on the list of Broncos players that have expired contracts and what the prospects might be for them to return to Denver or move on. Then, we'll look at free agents around the NFL and discuss who the Broncos should be targeting and where some of the holes in the roster can be filled before the 2012 NFL Draft.
Below are some important dates to keep in mind:
Feb. 20 - Teams can begin applying franchise and transition tags to players
Feb. 22-28 - NFL Combine (live coverage on NFL Network and NFL.com)
March 5 - Deadline for teams to apply franchise and transition tags
March 13 - Free agency begins at 4 p.m.
The Broncos have a lot of work to do over the next few months if they are going to build upon their 2011 AFC West Championship. That work starts NOW!
There are different levels of NFL Free Agents:
Restricted Free Agent(RFA): A player whose contract has expired and has fewer than four tenured years in the league. He may sign an "Offer Sheet" with any other team, but his original team has seven days to match any offer he receives. If the original team does not match the offer, compensation will be awarded in the form of draft picks from the signing team. The round and quantity of picks are determined by the "Qualifying Offer" made by the player's original team. If a RFA is tendered a minimum qualifying offer the compensation is the equivalent of the round in which that player was originally selected. If that player was originally a rookie free agent, no compensation is awarded.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT (UFA): A player whose contract has expired and has four or more tenured years in the league. He may sign with any other team with no restrictions. If a team loses more UFAs than it signs, they will be awarded "Compensatory Draft Picks" from the league. The value of the pick is determined by the difference of the contracts signed by the players lost and those acquired. If a team has signed an equal number or more UFAs than it has lost, no "Compensatory Picks" will be awarded.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENT (ERFA): A player whose contract has expired and has three or fewer tenured years in the league. His original team must make a contract offer by the league imposed deadline or the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. No compensation is awarded for losing EFAs.
There are, of course, the 'TAGS' available to the Broncos to use, if they desire. The Broncos have rarely used the tag, though this season it could have benefits if the team decides to apply it to someone on the UFA list. One of the lesser-known changes in the new CBA agreed to last summer was a change in the way Franchise Tags are calculated. In years past, you simply took the average of the Top-5 salaries at a players position. Now, that average is spread over 5 years - meaning you would take the average of the Top-5 salaries from 2007 through 2011. For quarterbacks alone, that could mean a decrease of around $2.5 million in salary.
This could come into play for, say, Matt Prater, while the Broncos attempt to negotiate a long term deal with him.
Here is a list of current Broncos free agents:
| ERFA | RFA |
UFA |
| RB Lance Ball | WR Matt Willis | QB Brady Quinn |
| OT Chris Clark | DT Ryan McBean | FB Spencer Larsen |
| P Britton Colquitt | WR Eddie Royal | |
| TE Daniel Fells | ||
| TE Dante Rosario | ||
| OL Russ Hochstein | ||
| OL Manny Ramirez | ||
| DE Derrick Harvey | ||
| DE Jason Hunter | ||
| DT Brodrick Bunkley | ||
| DT Marcus Thomas | ||
| LB Mario Haggan | ||
| LB Joe Mays | ||
| LB Wesley Woodyard | ||
| CB Jonathon Wilhite | ||
| S Brian Dawkins | ||
| K Matt Prater |
4 recs | 71 comments
No brainer re-signs
Prater
Colquitt
Bunkley
Haggan (good depth maybe a 1 year contract)
CombatChuk - February 9, 2012
Agree with that list. I would add woodyard.
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 9, 2012
Woody is an intersting prospect
I’m coming up with a fan post of possibly converting Woodyard to Strong Safety (a la Sam Brandon) to combat the latest trend of big ass Tight Ends that can catch…
CombatChuk - February 9, 2012
I'm all for that, I'll look forward to reading that.
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 9, 2012
That idea has been around for a few years but it will never happen or it already would have.
BroncoMath101 - February 9, 2012
I hear that.
Some fans keep bringing it up, that’s the only place I’ve heard of it.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
given his occassional struggles in coverage
This is a TERRIBLE idea.
Woodyard is a decent/good (not great) coverage LB…. he would likely be the worst coverage SS in the NFL, at least if he was a starter.
No no no no no no.
cjfarls - February 9, 2012
Wood is worse than DJ in coverage.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
I won't dispute that...
to me, one guy is a “6”, and the other guy is a “half-dozen”. Neither is a “10”, but neither is a “2” either.
cjfarls - February 9, 2012
I think Tunesmith
posted something about it. Perhaps he could chime in here. It was a stats based thing. I wish I could remember what the name of the website was for you.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
He has a few.
Some of them he paid the extra cash to be a VIP haha.
advancednflstats, pro-football-reference, and profootballfocus
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
I still believe that he could switch to MLB and save us all the hassle
Mike Agnew - February 9, 2012
Woodyard and Spence as well
everyone knows why I love Spence :)
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
He's gone,
we won’t carry two fullbacks and they just signed Austin Sylvester.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
not so fast - Sylvester may have just been signed to provide Larsen with competition in camp
DE_BroncoFan - February 9, 2012
exactly
or maybe he was signed incase spencer’s injury is more serious than we thought
Mike Agnew - February 9, 2012
John, they don't have much work to do.
Theycan just read MHR and we can all tell them what to do.
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 9, 2012
Also something worth considering
San Diego is going to let Vincent Jackson walk in free agency… Dude grew up in Colorado and went to UNC, could be a nice homecoming for him and would be our pogo stick to catch some long bombs from Tebow. Having him on one side and Thomas on the other, we’d be bomb city
CombatChuk - February 9, 2012
He'll be so expensive. I doubt we even bring him in for a look because of it.
I could see him going to the Rams or Browns or even Niners. Some team without a true #1 will over pay for him.
BroncoMath101 - February 9, 2012
We have plenty of cap space
and I’m sure Bowlen is getting some more money with Tebowmania going on, Jackson would be a great safety net for him…
CombatChuk - February 9, 2012
we have the cap space but it doesn't really constitute the type of "value signing" that EFX is going for.
V-Jax will be getting around 10 million a year from someone just not us.
BroncoMath101 - February 9, 2012
There was something on SC about him
and the teams he wanted to go to. We weren’t on the list. We don’t need him, anyways, IMO. DT and Decker will be the starters, and Royal will probably remain the third receiver. It seemed to be trending that way this season, anyways. I think we are good at the position, granted we resign Royal. I think Willis goes, so there will be room to bring in a receiver, but I’d personally rather see that money go to an upgrade at tight end instead.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
I agree we don't need him. I'll just be glad to see him out of the division. I bet the Pats will sign him.
I wouldn’t mind drafting a 3rd round WR like Streeter to be our #3 guy since I don’t think Royal will re-sign with us. I like the potential of Dell and Goodwin as well. Goodwin reportedly is very fast.
BroncoMath101 - February 9, 2012
Tight ends
I’m interested to see how Cornelius Ingram does in TC or if he even makes it that far. Prior to his injury in college, he was a stud TE and one of Tebow’s favorite targets at UF. Haven’t heard anything out of him since, so I have no idea if he’s healthy but at one point he was considered the best receiving tight end prospect in the country.
richj44 - February 10, 2012
As I said about Prater
if we are desirous to bring V-Jack in, I will gladly drive across I-70 from south central Utah to the greater Denver area and transport V-Jack and Clutch Prater to wherever they have to go if they get soused like a grouse. It is only 8 hours and in the fall, the roads are usually pretty bereft of snowfall (knock on wood), just don’t do what Knowshon did PLEASE, DUI is bad news, you might kill your best friend or your wife, or your precious baby niece Paisley :(
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
I don't think Vincent Jackson gives maximum bang for the buck.
He’s gonna cost a ton and his skill set is similar to Demaryius Thomas who looks to be developing. If we’re going to look at FA WR I think we’d do better to look at a couple of guys that would be much cheaper and are burners that could stretch the field. Garcon on Meachum would fit the bill there.
jaffe28 - February 9, 2012
YES ROBERT MEACHAM
if you can’t tell I have a high opinion of his abilities, the year the Saints won the Super Bowl, they were playing a game at Washington and Brees threw a pick to Kareem Moore of Washington. Meacham then made Kareem Moore fumble and if memory serves, he got a touchdown on that play, does anyone else remember this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9qhEZEN_6s
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
I remember that play
Washington should have won that game but the saints kept pulling off crazy stuff like that
Calikula - February 9, 2012
I'd be good with those two.
And I agree, VJ is a carbon copy of DT.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
agreed. Garcon and Meacham would be great pick ups.
BroncoMath101 - February 9, 2012
Based on this year....
Denver will be Death Valley for FA Receivers. They will have to throw some pretty good money at a player, to get him to come to Denver & be a blocker.
rg2247 - February 9, 2012
This is a good point that shouldn't go unnoticed.
Our receivers, if you think about it, are largely big play guys. Of course I’m speaking of DT and Decker. Other than that, there isn’t a whole lot of action thus far in this system for wide receivers. I’m not saying they are all selfish and wouldn’t want to come here as I’m sure there are guys that will play anywhere if the price is right, but I wouldn’t expect us to even go after big name receivers. It’s not our style, and they really don’t fit our scheme. We really need to upgrade at TE. That would be very beneficial for Tebow to have a stud TE to go to whenever he needs a tough catch.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
I'm really curious to see what happens with Eddie Royal
I know everyone is down on him because he doesn’t have 90 catches a year, but he’s a good kid and can change the momentum in a heartbeat, esp in the kicking game.
I just don’t know what we have the luxury of resigning a guy that doesn’t get above average separation in his routes and isn’t an impact blocker in the run game.
Triz06 - February 9, 2012
I agree, would love to see Eddie come back, good guy, tries hard, can return, too
but I am doubtful. He may want to look elsewhere, to a team that is going to throw it a lot more than the Broncos.
underdog - February 9, 2012
I want royal back too
He is worth #3 WR money. I like his explosive, and versatile skills. Hopefully the Bears and Redskins of the world don’t offer #2 money.
chikndnnr - February 9, 2012
I was thinking Ted Ginn as possibly a cheaper replacement for Eddie.
I like Eddie, I just don’t see him sticking around.
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 9, 2012
Eddie can't get separation and just bumping him off the line of scrimmage throws him off
He can stay but it would have to be exclusively for Kick off returns and punt returns
CombatChuk - February 9, 2012
If Ginn plays against the Giants
in the NFC Championship Game, I’ll bet Alex Smith is hoisting the Lombardi trophy instead of Eli #fact
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
What are the "Transition Tags"?
I know about the Franchise Tag, but haven’t heard much talk about Transition Tags. How many do each team get and do they work similarly?
Puckhead1 - February 9, 2012
Transition Tags
Are the average of the Top-10 at a position. Teams can only use one or the other in a given year – Franchise or Transition – and the old poison pill makes Transition Tags pretty useless….
John Bena - February 9, 2012
as we saw depicted
in the Steve Hutchinson situation entailing the Vikings and Seahawks
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
Seahawks got screwed on that one...
They couldn’t just match the money and term offered by the Vikings. The old clause making Hutchinson the highest paid OL on the team meant that the Seahawks would have had to give him more than Walter Jones was making, which would have made the deal worth many more $ to the Seahawks than what the Vikings would have pay him.
Puckhead1 - February 9, 2012
Thanks for the info.
Being pretty useless….I guess that’s why I haven’t heard much about the Transition Tag. I was thinking it was something new from the new CBA.
Puckhead1 - February 9, 2012
Brady Quinn is an unrestricted free agent??
Oh nos.
Christopher Shaw - February 9, 2012
I could see tagging Prater.
Good to see Colquitt is Exclusive Rights.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
being a kicker
Prater can’t complain too much, I can see why tailbacks and tight ends would be pissed about it, but even though I’m a former kicker myself, they are generally deemed dispensable, even good ones like Prater
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
I honestly don't see us tagging anyone with the franchise tag except maybe prater.
BroncoMath101 - February 9, 2012
Gotta resign Prater
Woodyard, and Bunk.
Thomas, Haggan, Royal, Larsen can be back at the right price
Scotty Payne - February 9, 2012
Agree.
ThorpeBroncosfan - February 9, 2012
Resign:
Royal, Woodyard, Bunkley, Thomas, Hunter, Prater, Colquitt.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
Larsen?
the new Bradfather - February 9, 2012
They just signed Sylvester,
I don’t see them carrying two fullbacks.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
Then they'll dump Sylvester.
There is a reason why he didn’t play in one game last year.
jonmark93 - February 9, 2012
He was on the active roster last year for at least one game.
Being an UDFA he has an uphill battle to make the NFL at any rate, but he looks strong and has the body to take the punishment of he can develop. I don’t believe Spencer Larsen will have to many suitors trying to sign him for much. He and Sylvester and whoever else they get can fight it out in TC…
bfree2bronc - February 9, 2012
Larsen isn't that special, frankly.
And he’s coming off injury. Why would the team sign Sylvester now, it’s not like they need him any time soon. It just looks like writing on the wall for Larsen to me. Just my opinion.
postpunk27 - February 9, 2012
Sylvester is much like Larsen.
STs ace. Played LB. However that does not tell me he is as good as Larsen.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
There isn't any NFL info on Sylvester
But watching his college stuff, he wasn’t that good back then either. Larsen isn’t a top notch FB, but I don’t expect Sylvester to even make the team next year, though if he does I hope he rocks it.
Topher Doll - February 9, 2012
me neither max
He is camp fodder i believe.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
It's rare to find a talented FB
And Sylvester isn’t even close to that class. He wasn’t even a very good college FB, add in he wasn’t able to make a struggling TB run game who needed improvement in run blocking. Larsen isn’t special, but not many full backs are.
Topher Doll - February 9, 2012
I think they will look to upgrade the FB position
Scotty Payne - February 9, 2012
DT Ryan McBean is one of the more interesting FAs as he is restricted.
McBean is coming off his best season in the NFL as a rotational player, who had 33 tackles and 4 sacks. I think EFX will let him test the market and not get to happy about signing him early. If a team gives him an offer then we can possibly get a 4th rounder out of him. If no offers are presented then sign him for what ever? He was drafted by the Steelers at 132 of the 4th rd…
bfree2bronc - February 9, 2012
With the lack of depth, McBean should come back
he at least put some pressure on the QB occasionally.
Scotty Payne - February 9, 2012
All 5 RFAs
will be back to tryout I’m sure. Why wouldn’t we keep them for camp? they’re cheap.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
John, what happened to the "New Fan Post" section on the right side?
bfree2bronc - February 9, 2012
It has been messed up. They're working on it I heard.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
Great post, John
Fabio Broncos - February 9, 2012
Raiders just cut CB Stanford Routt.
He can be signed imediately by whoever can lure him in.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
I'd take him
not a bad player
Scotty Payne - February 9, 2012
Probably re-sign with the Raiders.
There was some sort of glitch in his contract I think.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
Maybe not.
Routt already has visits planned with the Titans and Bills.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
New GM Reggie McKenzie making moves to adjust a roster with "out of whack" contracts.
In addition to CB Stanford Routt, Raiders FS Michael Huff, DT Tommy Kelly, DT John Henderson, CB Chris Johnson, and OG Cooper Carlisle are candidates for release.
Digger24 - February 9, 2012
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