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The Denver Broncos limped into another offseason after missing the playoffs for the fifth year in a row, finishing with a 5-11 record. George Paton, the team’s newly hired general manager, has a lot of work to do this spring. However, the team doesn’t too many cornerstone players ticketed for free agency this year, which helps Paton solve the team’s biggest problem: finding a better quarterback.
Lost revenue due to COVID-19 will impact every team, but with so many free agents the likely drop in the league wide salary cap number could make things difficult. The 2020 number was around $198 million, while the 2021 number could drop to $180.5 million according to Over The Cap, but is subject to change.
Franchise/Transition Tag possibilities
The most obvious candidate for the tag is safety Justin Simmons. He played every single snap this season, and finished the year with close to 100 tackles and a team-best four interceptions. He got tagged last year, and if the Broncos have to use it a second time, it would be a fairly reasonable $12.8 million. It would be good to keep Shelby Harris around for the defensive line, but he’s not worth the cost of tag.
Pass rusher Von Miller ($22.1 million cap hit) and safety Kareem Jackson ($12.8 million cap hit) have team options in their contract for 2021. It’s unlikely that the team would choose not to exercise those options, but restructuring those deals, especially Miller’s, is one option they might pursue to free up more cap space to sign a quarterback.
Salary cap
Estimated 2021 cap space: $14,883,422
2021 transactions
Free agent signings
TBD
Free agent departures
TBD
Trades
TBD
Notable unrestricted free agents
Broncos 2021 Free Agents
Pos | Player | 2020 Team | 2021 Team |
---|---|---|---|
Pos | Player | 2020 Team | 2021 Team |
QB | Blake Bortles | Broncos | |
RB | Phillip Lindsay* | Broncos | |
WR | Tim Patrick* | Broncos | |
TE | Troy Fumagalli* | Broncos | |
TE | Jake Butt* | Broncos | |
RT | Elijah Wilkinson | Broncos | |
RT | Demar Dotson | Broncos | |
EDGE | Jeremiah Attaochu | Broncos | |
EDGE | Anthony Chickillo | Broncos | |
DT | Sylvester Williams | Broncos | |
IDL | Shelby Harris | Broncos | |
IDL | DeMarcus Walker | Broncos | |
LB | Alexander Johnson* | Broncos | |
LB | Austin Calitro* | Broncos | |
LB | Joseph Jones | Broncos | |
CB | Kevin Toliver II* | Broncos | |
CB | De'Vante Bausby | Broncos | |
S | Justin Simmons | Broncos | |
S | Will Parks | Broncos |
* Denotes Restricted Free Agent (RFA)