Denver Broncos 2021 free agency outlook

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

* Denotes Restricted Free Agent (RFA)