Broncos Free Agency Additions and Subtractions

As a Broncos fan, March and the start of free agency has been a fun ride with John Elway running the front office since 2011. We remember Elway recruiting the biggest free agent ever, Peyton Manning, to come to Denver in 2012. In 2013, Elway made another big splash when he signed RG Louis Vasquez from San Diego, and he then went out and stole Wes Welker from the Patriots. By the way, he added lightly regarded DT Terrence Knighton that same offseason. In 2014, Elway went all-in when he nabbed T.J. Ward, DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and Emmanuel Sanders. It is pretty safe to say that those moves have all been successful in making the Broncos perennial contenders for the Super Bowl. This year has turned out different. Instead of the Broncos making the big moves early on, they have only made a few moves, and they have seen a number of key players leave to sign elsewhere.  What does this all mean? Well, for one it is only a few days into free agency, so there will be other moves made down the road. Also, we know that free agent signings don't always translate into Super Bowls, so nothing is guaranteed when you don't spend the big money in March. Let's take a look at the signings Denver has made so far, and the players that they lost the first couple of days of the new League year.

Additions:

1) Denver signed TE Owen Daniels to a 3-year $12 million dollar deal. This was a really good move for Denver, and Daniels reunites with head coach Gary Kubiak once again. Daniels is a sneaky good offensive TE, and Kubiak should be able to get the most out of him once again. Just go back and watch the Ravens two playoff games against Pittsburgh and Baltimore last year, and see how effective Daniels can be in this offense.

2) Denver re-signed TE Virgil Green. It was apparent from the outset that Denver wanted Green back badly, and they were able to get the deal done. Once Julius Thomas left for Jacksonville, Denver had to get Green back in the fold. Green is a superior blocker, but looks like he can be athletic enough to help Denver out in the passing game-especially with Kubiak at the helm. The combination of Green and Daniels should help ease the pain of losing Thomas just a little bit come September.

3) Denver signed FS Darian Stewart from the Ravens. I thought this was a good signing to combine with T.J. Ward at the backend of the Broncos defense. As the Ravens secondary was getting depleted with injuries last year, every time I watched them Stewart impressed me. Go back and watch the playoffs again, and you'll see Stewart can play. With a secondary that already features Ward, Aqib Talib, and Chris Harris, you don't need a star at FS. This was a good signing in my opinion.

4) Denver signed OG Shelley Smith to help with their offensive line. I have to admit that I follow the NFL very closely, and I have a good handle on most of the players in the league, but when I heard the name Shelley Smith, I thought about the ESPN reporter-not a guard from the Dolphins. We'll see if Smith can come in start, but it looks like he might have to fight it out with Ben Garland or a draft pick for playing time.

Losses:

1) Julius Thomas signs with Jacksonville on a five-year $46 million dollar contract. Thomas becomes the highest paid TE in the NFL on a per year basis, and he gets $15 million guaranteed this year alone. Losing Thomas will hurt the Broncos, but Denver was never going to be able to afford him at that price. Thomas got a chance to get paid, and now he heads to purgatory of the NFL in Jacksonville. It was not a surprise that Thomas left once word got out that he wanted to test the market.

2) Orlando Franklin signs with San Diego on a five-year $36 million dollar contract. Franklin will make  $16.5 million guaranteed in the first two years of the contract. This was another tough one because Franklin has come in a started from day one when he was drafted in 2011. After moving from RT to LG, Franklin played really well down the stretch for Denver in 2014. Again, the money was just too much for Denver to afford, and it sucks that San Diego stole him away, but I guess it makes up for the fact that we snagged Vasquez from them in 2013. With the Broncos paying big money to Ryan Clady and Vasquez, they couldn't swing paying that much for Franklin. The loss of Franklin leaves a big hole on the offensive line, and the Broncos don't seem to have any immediate free agent move that can fill that void at this moment.

3) Terrence Knighton signed with the Redskins for 1 year and $4 million dollars. It is surprising to me that Knighton signed for only a one year deal at that price. I thought for sure he was going to get a big deal somewhere in free agency, but the market kind of dictated what his fate was going to be. This was a big loss for the Broncos, but it was expected. It looked like the Broncos were going to let "Pot Roast" walk, but I wonder if there couldn't be a similar deal hatched between Denver and Knighton. Why not just stay in Denver for the same type of deal? Losing Knighton does worry me, and if our run defense has problems next year, then his defection to Washington will be a big part of that.

4) Rahim Moore signed with the Texans for a 3 years and $12 million dollars. It was obvious that Moore was also going to leave, and I liked Moore, but he was the most expendable out of the four big-name free agents that the Broncos knew could leave. His impact on the secondary is not as big as guys like Ward, Talib, Harris, and even Bradley Roby. The safety was pretty weak after Devin McCourty re-signed with the Patriots. Moore was given the chance to cash in, and he did just that. I liked him, he was a good player for us, but his loss won't determine the Broncos fate next year. Of course, the lasting memory for Rahim Moore in Denver was and will always be the fact that he misplayed Joe Flacco's bomb to Jacoby Jones for a 70 yard touchdown near the end of regulation in the 2012 Divisional Playoff game against the Ravens. Thanks for the memories, Rahim!