Potential Cuts this offseason to look for.

[CTM]

Currently we have about 38 million in cap space heading into the offseason. We can make several moves, some more obvious than others, that would give us even more cap space to be aggressive in Free Agency.

I'll rank them from most likely to least likely to happen.



1. Russell Okung. Cap hit for 2017: 11.7 mil. Cap savings if Cut: 10.9 mil.

Okung I don't think showed himself to be an elite answer at LT and therefore we are probably going to release him, if I'm not mistaken if he stays on for this year we would owe him a lot more guaranteed money over the next 4 years. This move seems almost certainly to happen. I put the likelihood of this cut at 95%


2. Donald Stephenson. Cap hit for 2017: 5 mil. Cap Savings if Cut: 3 mil.

Stephenson had a lot of struggles this year. We are going to need a major overhaul of the Oline and it might be better to start fresh at the RT position. I think the likelihood of this cut is about 85%


3. Aqib Talib. Cap hit for 2017: 12 mil. Cap Savings if Cut: 10 mil.

This one is a lot less likely to happen, but still in the realm of possibility. Talib is getting up there in age, and the chance to save a lot of cap space by cutting might be enticing if we want to be aggressive and rebuild the offense in a hurry. While I think the chances of this happening are probably around 25%, remember that Elway was willing to part with Dumervil over his large cap hit even after Dumervil had a very good season and didn't agree to a pay cut in time.


4. TJ Ward. Cap hit for 2017: 5.75 mil. Cap Savings if Cut: 4.5 mil.

Even less likely to happen than Talib is Ward. Ward has been an excellent pickup but he's also getting up there in age. I think Elway tends towards the idea of getting rid of players one year too early rather than one year to late and there is a lot of incentive as far as the cap hit goes to consider this move. I would put the likelihood of this cut at about 5%.

[brianmcfarlane]

I would agree on Okung ... I would be very surprised if they picked up his option which would guarantee ~20M and he would have a 12M average over 4 years. He has not shown to be worth that; I think we will let him go to FA.

Stephenson did not perform very well at RT and likely is not the answer to start there next season. His cap # isn't very high though and he can offer competition at the RT position at the least. I think there is a good possibility that he does not make the final roster but I would keep him into pre-season to compete.

I think Talib is here for at least one more season, he has shown to be one of the top CBs in the league and easily has another good year left in him.

Ward is a alternate for the pro-bowl this season which may mean he plays in the pro-bowl ... at 5.75M cap # for 2017 he is a good value ... I don't see him being cut.

That leaves just Okung being "cut" and actually it will be just not picking up his option. I would consider Okung for another year at the same price he played for this last season after he becomes a FA.
The Broncos are in good shape cap wise for 2017. :2cents:

[ksubroncosfan]

Quick, question. Does it really count as cutting if the broncos choose not to pick up the option on Okung? I ask, because if the option is not picked up does that mean that we can get a compensatory pick from him next year if he signs a larger contract elsewhere? I'm not exactly sure how that works in the situation with Okung's contract.

I'm not sure how I feel about cutting Donald. I definitely hope we don't have to start him next year. But, maybe he could be a decent backup swingman for us? Idk.

As for Talib. We are not going to get better production out of somebody else at the price he costs us. Could he be cut? Possibly. I think it would be a foolish decision, however. John already said he would not take away from our strengths, just to build up our weaknesses. I Also disagree about Talib's age being an issue. I keep hearing "he's getting up there in age." He's only going to be 31 next year and coming off of his best season as a pro. Maybe we see a bit of a decrease at 31 as compared to 30, but it's not going to be a Manning from age 38-39/40 type of decrease. Most top athletes in today's advancements are able to play closer to their peak, a few years beyond 30 at just about every position, except for RB it seems.

As for T.J. Ward, I would actually not be that upset with his release at this point. He can't cover and he sure did seem to miss a whole lot of tackles this year. And now that we seem to have two young quality safeties, his loss would not be as hurtful as it would have been last year. That's not to say I'd be upset if he's back with us next year. I think he does other things extremely well still that help this defense.

[Butler By'Note]

Quick, question. Does it really count as cutting if the broncos choose not to pick up the option on Okung? I ask, because if the option is not picked up does that mean that we can get a compensatory pick from him next year if he signs a larger contract elsewhere? I'm not exactly sure how that works in the situation with Okung's contract.

I'm not sure how I feel about cutting Donald. I definitely hope we don't have to start him next year. But, maybe he could be a decent backup swingman for us? Idk.

As for Talib. We are not going to get better production out of somebody else at the price he costs us. Could he be cut? Possibly. I think it would be a foolish decision, however. John already said he would not take away from our strengths, just to build up our weaknesses. I Also disagree about Talib's age being an issue. I keep hearing "he's getting up there in age." He's only going to be 31 next year and coming off of his best season as a pro. Maybe we see a bit of a decrease at 31 as compared to 30, but it's not going to be a Manning from age 38-39/40 type of decrease. Most top athletes in today's advancements are able to play closer to their peak, a few years beyond 30 at just about every position, except for RB it seems.

As for T.J. Ward, I would actually not be that upset with his release at this point. He can't cover and he sure did seem to miss a whole lot of tackles this year. And now that we seem to have two young quality safeties, his loss would not be as hurtful as it would have been last year. That's not to say I'd be upset if he's back with us next year. I think he does other things extremely well still that help this defense.

If it's a true option then yes they get a comp pick, New England got a comp pick for the same situation with Revis.

[Butler By'Note]

I think Anderson is a possible cut, or pay cut candidate.

Crick also could be on his way out.

Okung is a sure thing. Stephenson likely. And then I think if Ward or Talib do end up not being in Denver any longer it will be through trades rather than outright release. But I'm not sure either player will be going anywhere this offseason.

[brianmcfarlane]

I think Anderson is a possible cut, or pay cut candidate.

Crick also could be on his way out.

Okung is a sure thing. Stephenson likely. And then I think if Ward or Talib do end up not being in Denver any longer it will be through trades rather than outright release. But I'm not sure either player will be going anywhere this offseason.

Crick? ... I guess I would think it depends on what a "cut" actually means according to the thread? I would think that Crick will be in camp/pre-season to compete for a "rotation" spot again on the DL. He might not make the final roster = "cut". His cap # 2.25M is possibly a decent value for him, from my perspective I think he met expectations considering his salary.

CJ is only scheduled to make 3M, not much room for negotiating a pay cut ... hopefully he can stay healthy for once.

[HUMCALC]

I'd keep Talib

[Houshmazode]

Ward is way more likely than Talib, imo. Talib sets the tone for our defense, and is a leader whether people like it or not. Ward was that guy more often in 2015, but this year he seemed a lot quiet, apparently forgot how to wrap tackle (maybe he had a shoulder injury we didn't know about) and looks like he lost a step. Talib is going nowhere, Ward may. Parks and Simmons look pretty good.

[Butler By'Note]

Crick? ... I guess I would think it depends on what a "cut" actually means according to the thread? I would think that Crick will be in camp/pre-season to compete for a "rotation" spot again on the DL. He might not make the final roster = "cut". His cap # 2.25M is possibly a decent value for him, from my perspective I think he met expectations considering his salary.

CJ is only scheduled to make 3M, not much room for negotiating a pay cut ... hopefully he can stay healthy for once.

I didn't see Crick adding a lot of value this year, his cap hit is fairly low, but it might depend on what a new coach, or new DC (if there is one) wants to do? And do they need the spot for other players?

Anderson has a $3 million cap hit, but there's no dead money if released. I think Elway brings him in, shows him how many games he's been healthy for and offers I'm $1.5 million, with incentives that can get it back to $3 million if he plays and delivers.

[Butler By'Note]

Ward is way more likely than Talib, imo. Talib sets the tone for our defense, and is a leader whether people like it or not. Ward was that guy more often in 2015, but this year he seemed a lot quiet, apparently forgot how to wrap tackle (maybe he had a shoulder injury we didn't know about) and looks like he lost a step. Talib is going nowhere, Ward may. Parks and Simmons look pretty good.

Talib is also a difficult personality to manage. If there was as much of a divided locker room this year as people have speculated, Elway might decide to clear out the instigators.

[Houshmazode]

Talib is also a difficult personality to manage. If there was as much of a divided locker room this year as people have speculated, Elway might decide to clear out the instigators.

There probably won't be much of a division if there's a half decent offense in place. There's always even a small division between offense and defense, too. Talib is worth more than what he's paid. He's not going anywhere.

[Butler By'Note]

There probably won't be much of a division if there's a half decent offense in place. There's always even a small division between offense and defense, too. Talib is worth more than what he's paid. He's not going anywhere.

It might not be as easy as "fix the offense everything goes away" if it was bad and there was a major divide, you have to move the instigators out. Now none of us actually knows the real story, maybe there wasn't much of a division at all?

But if we see some players we wouldn't normally expect being moved, my guess is they're trying to fix the locker room.

[ERoyal248]

Okung- I can see either way but who replaces him? High cap # though but played all 16 games. Was his struggles because of Garcia being a turnstile?

Stephenson- Should happen once the SB is over.

Talib- I mean i guess you can never rule out anything in the NFL but Talib was the best CB in the NFL this year. And him allows Denver to do alot up front in blitz packages. As Elway said, it would take away a strength. Yeah he's a bit of a headcase off the field but there arent too many CB's better than him.

Ward- Possible with Parks/Simmons doing ok, but i think he stays.

I'd guess Stephenson is cut and maybe try to slim down Okung's cap # a little bit.

Okung will be the one to watch, we dont have much to replace him and the FA market is kinda meh for LT's.

[samparnell]

Aqib Talib is under contract through 2019. I doubt if he will be released or traded this year. After that, we'll just need to wait and see.

T.J. Ward is under contract this year at the same salary as last. I doubt if he will be traded or released this year, but Denver may choose to let him go in free agency in 2018.

Denver will probably decline to exercise their option on Russell Okung. To do so would be expensive for a player who did not play up to expectations. Other less expensive options will be exercised instead.

Donald Stephenson will probably be released IMO. He has no technique, especially in pass protection. Too bad it will affect the cap.

It will be interesting to see what Denver does with the W boys: Ware; Williams; Walker; Webster; Watson; and, Winn as they are all UFAs.

Norwood's name doesn't start with W, so he will probably not be re-signed mostly because Denver already has six other receivers. Speaking of receivers, Marlon Brown is a UFA this year.

Justin Forsett is also a UFA who probably won't be re-signed.

McManus, Brenner and Davis are RFAs this year. Brenner might not be tendered, but the other two will.

Denver has Paradis, Barrett, Bibbs, Fowler, Ferentz, Kreiter, Taylor, Anderson, Gause and Nixon as ERFAs. They will probably all be back for TC.

C.J. Anderson's salary is half in 2017 than what it was in 2016, so if he rehabs well, I would expect him to be back for TC anyway.

Ty Sambrailo needs to take up residence in the weight room, or he might not make the cut if there is an influx of O-Linemen in draft/free agency.

Whether or not Denver's 2017 offense needs a Fullback remains to be seen. If the offense needs one and FB prospects come to TC, Juwan Thompson will be on the bubble for sure.

[Houshmazode]

It might not be as easy as "fix the offense everything goes away" if it was bad and there was a major divide, you have to move the instigators out. Now none of us actually knows the real story, maybe there wasn't much of a division at all?

But if we see some players we wouldn't normally expect being moved, my guess is they're trying to fix the locker room.

If it was truly that bad, I'd expect more offensive players to be on the way out. Iirc, Talib told Okung to sit down and shut up after he stood up to say something after we basically got eliminated after a bad loss. Or maybe it was Stephenson but both of those guys had a terrible game.

Imo Talib represents the kicking and screaming mentality that I'm sure Elway still wants to keep around. He wants to win. He may not be the smartest guy but Elway played with guys like Romanowski too and understands their value. Talib leaving would just be a big surprise to me.