2017 Fixing the Broncos: Pre-Combine Edition

[munoz1987]

Starting Salary Cap: $32,201,140

Release:
DL Jared Crick/ saves: $1,750,000
TE Virgil Green/ saves: $2,800,000
OL Donald Stephenson/ saves: $3,000,000
OL Billy Turner/ saves: $794,000

Restructure:
LT Russell Okung/ 4yr 36 million (If he refuses to restructure, contract will be offered to LT Andrew Whitworth/CIN 3yr 27 million)
(As bad as the O-line was, Okung is better than what he looked. With a full off-season free from injury rehab he can get back to a Pro-bowl level. Having Max Garcia next to him hurt him as well. Finding a new LG is priority #1 in this off-season)

Resign:
OLB DeMarcus Ware/ 1yr 5 million(Can't lose his Leadership)
DE Vance Walker/ 2yr 4 million
K Brandon McManus/ RFA- Original Round tender $1,800,000
ILB Todd Davis/ RFA- Original Round tender $1,800,000
C Matt Paradis/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
RB Kapri Bibbs/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
WR Bennie Fowler/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
OLB Shaquil Barrett/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
WR Jordan Taylor/ ERFA- Tendered $540,000
ILB Zaire Anderson/ ERFA- Tendered $540,000

Salary Cap after Release/Restructure/Resign: $29,605,140

Free Agent Additions:
DE/NT Earl Mitchell/MIA- 3yr, 12 million
OG Kevin Zeitler/CIN- 5yr, 50 million
RT Kelvin Beachum/JAX- 2 yr,7 million (new RT, struggled in JAX coming off a 2015 ACL injury but still has talent to play in NFL)
NT Johnathan Hankins/NYG- 3yr, 9 million

Salary Cap Space: $8,605,140

Draft:
1 (20): O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
2 (TRADE): Denver Trades 2(51) & 3(97) to LA Rams for 2(37): Curtis Samuel, WR/RB, Ohio State
3 (82): Jaleel Johnson, 3-4DE, Iowa
3 (102): Pat Elfein, C/G, Ohio State
4 (125): Julie'n Davenport, OT, Bucknell
4 (145): Eddie Jackson, S, Alabama
6 (203): Vince Biegel, OLB, Wisconsin
7 (253): Hardy Nickerson, ILB/OLB, Illinois

My draft is all about adding SPEED on offense because Denver has ZERO. My top two picks will be instant contributors to a offense that needs them. Followed by a difference maker at DE. Then two OL with great potential. OC Elfein is a great insurance plan if Paradis can’t recover from 2 hip surgeries plus he can play guard. OT Davenport could be the next Jason Peters but needs a season to develop. S Eddie Jackson will add talent to an already talented No Fly Zone. Last 2 picks will come in and play special teams right away.

[Garfield]

Starting Salary Cap: $32,201,140

Release:
DL Jared Crick/ saves: $1,750,000
TE Virgil Green/ saves: $2,800,000
OL Donald Stephenson/ saves: $3,000,000
OL Billy Turner/ saves: $794,000

Restructure:
LT Russell Okung/ 4yr 36 million (If he refuses to restructure, contract will be offered to LT Andrew Whitworth/CIN 3yr 27 million)
(As bad as the O-line was, Okung is better than what he looked. With a full off-season free from injury rehab he can get back to a Pro-bowl level. Having Max Garcia next to him hurt him as well. Finding a new LG is priority #1 in this off-season)

Resign:
OLB DeMarcus Ware/ 1yr 5 million(Can't lose his Leadership)
DE Vance Walker/ 2yr 4 million
K Brandon McManus/ RFA- Original Round tender $1,800,000
ILB Todd Davis/ RFA- Original Round tender $1,800,000
C Matt Paradis/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
RB Kapri Bibbs/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
WR Bennie Fowler/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
OLB Shaquil Barrett/ ERFA- Tendered $615,000
WR Jordan Taylor/ ERFA- Tendered $540,000
ILB Zaire Anderson/ ERFA- Tendered $540,000

Salary Cap after Release/Restructure/Resign: $29,605,140

Free Agent Additions:
DE/NT Earl Mitchell/MIA- 3yr, 12 million
OG Kevin Zeitler/CIN- 5yr, 50 million
RT Kelvin Beachum/JAX- 2 yr,7 million (new RT, struggled in JAX coming off a 2015 ACL injury but still has talent to play in NFL)
NT Johnathan Hankins/NYG- 3yr, 9 million

Salary Cap Space: $8,605,140

Draft:
1 (20): O.J. Howard, TE, Alabama
2 (TRADE): Denver Trades 2(51) & 3(97) to LA Rams for 2(37): Curtis Samuel, WR/RB, Ohio State
3 (82): Jaleel Johnson, 3-4DE, Iowa
3 (102): Pat Elfein, C/G, Ohio State
4 (125): Julie'n Davenport, OT, Bucknell
4 (145): Eddie Jackson, S, Alabama
6 (203): Vince Biegel, OLB, Wisconsin
7 (253): Hardy Nickerson, ILB/OLB, Illinois

My draft is all about adding SPEED on offense because Denver has ZERO. My top two picks will be instant contributors to a offense that needs them. Followed by a difference maker at DE. Then two OL with great potential. OC Elfein is a great insurance plan is Paradis can’t recover from 2 hip surgeries plus he can play guard. OT Davenport could be the next Jason Peters but needs a season to develop. S Eddie Jackson will add talent to an already talented No Fly Zone. Last 2 picks will come in and play special teams right away.

Three flaws as I see them Crick played very well in relief he is cheap.

Okung has ZERO incentive to restructure, there are few "better" OLT on the market several of which are going now where else other than their team, the others will be as much if not more than Okung will get.
Pretty sure without looking at Over the cap for salaries that there are few OGs that are getting 10 mil a year.

edit ONE LG is worth 11 mil over paid by the raiders the next is at 8 then 7.3, 7, 6.7 6.4 5.8,5.4, 5.2 mil a year.

Zeitler is currently listed at 1.8

[munoz1987]

Three flaws as I see them Crick played very well in relief he is cheap.

Okung has ZERO incentive to restructure, there are few "better" OLT on the market several of which are going now where else other than their team, the others will be as much if not more than Okung will get.
Pretty sure without looking at Over the cap for salaries that there are few OGs that are getting 10 mil a year.

Crick was bad. He lined up 2yrds off the ball half the time and ended up on the ground & a non factor in the play 85% of the time. He lucked into a couple sacks. Only thing he did good was bat a couple balls down since he hardly ever beat his man.
The only FA LT available better than Okung is Whitworth and he's 36.
DeCastro, Osemele, and K. Long all signed contracts last yr worth 10 mil a yr. That's the market for the top FA Guards.

[SoundsOfSuccess]

Good draft

High picks on OL is foolish IMO

I agree Denver needs a speedy playmaker on offense

[munoz1987]

Good draft

High picks on OL is foolish IMO

I agree Denver needs a speedy playmaker on offense

Yeah none of the projected 1st round OL get me excited.
Elway has been searching for a playmaker at TE the past 3 years ie. V Davis, Heuerman, & Derby they have all been disappointing. If Howard's there at 20 he's the pick.
C Samuel is the playmaker Denver desperately needs. He can be our T. Hill. He can play in the slot, b our 3rd down back and return kicks. We haven't had anyone close to his skill set since Holiday, but this guy can hang on 2 the ball when he gets hit.

[montee2ball]

Your draft could use a corner instead of safety. This is a deep draft for corners.

[BroncosFanDuh]

Dang, this mock is amazing. Getting Eddie Jackson at S in the 4th round would be a miracle!

One question, would it better for us to restructure Okung (if he will even do that), or bring in Beachum to play LT instead, and then chase Ricky Wagner for RT? Beachum was playing really well at LT even coming off that ACL injury, so why change his position when Okung hasn't been playing that well? Getting Beachum and Wagner would be a miracle situation, but I think it would be money well spent.

Love the Jonathan Hankins move as well, very underrated.

[munoz1987]

Dang, this mock is amazing. Getting Eddie Jackson at S in the 4th round would be a miracle!

One question, would it better for us to restructure Okung (if he will even do that), or bring in Beachum to play LT instead, and then chase Ricky Wagner for RT? Beachum was playing really well at LT even coming off that ACL injury, so why change his position when Okung hasn't been playing that well? Getting Beachum and Wagner would be a miracle situation, but I think it would be money well spent.

Love the Jonathan Hankins move as well, very underrated.

If Okung refuses a pay cut then he is as good as gone. A Beachum & Wagner tandem would be good but I think Wagner is going to get big money and I'd rather spend big money on a Guard. Signing a top Guard will go a long way to improving our Tackle play. RT Sebastian Vollmer/NE could be an option at RT.

[shawinkerpoppin]

I would rather not spend 5 mill on ware and put that money towards signing a better RT like Wagner if Baltimore lets him walk. The 3.5 from beechum and the 5 from ware might get that done. Wagner would make more of an impact than both those guys combined.

[Garfield]

Crick was bad. He lined up 2yrds off the ball half the time and ended up on the ground & a non factor in the play 85% of the time. He lucked into a couple sacks. Only thing he did good was bat a couple balls down since he hardly ever beat his man.
The only FA LT available better than Okung is Whitworth and he's 36.
DeCastro, Osemele, and K. Long all signed contracts last yr worth 10 mil a yr. That's the market for the top FA Guards.

Are you saying that zietler is a top OG?

If you are John will never pay that .

He has always picked up talent on the cheap usually prove it contracts.. So odds are that is not going to happen.

Crick was in on a lot of tackles more than Wolfe, Ray, Williams, Gotsis HE was a role player. He was fourth in sacks caused 2 fumbles only one less than miller had. 4 TFL, 6 passes defensed and 13 QB hits.

I think you are thinking about someone else

[munoz1987]

Are you saying that zietler is a top OG?

If you are John will never pay that .

He has always picked up talent on the cheap usually prove it contracts.. So odds are that is not going to happen.

Crick was in on a lot of tackles more than Wolfe, Ray, Williams, Gotsis HE was a role player. He was fourth in sacks caused 2 fumbles only one less than miller had. 4 TFL, 6 passes defensed and 13 QB hits.

I think you are thinking about someone else

Zeitler is the top guard in Free Agency.

Elway was able to get Free Agents on team friendly deals beacuase he had an All-time Great QB and the players would sacrifice a lil cash for a chance to win. Now he doesn't have that and he's gonna have to pay premium dollars for premium players.

Jared Crick graded out as our lowest front seven starter. Sylvester Williams and Jared Crick grading out among the worst interior players in the NFL.