Broncos Mailbag: The Offseason

As much as I want to bottle this season and not think about next year already, I have to be consistent and take a look at the offseason ahead for the Broncos. There are a lot of questions for the Broncos as they prepare for the 2016 season, so let's take a look at some of them as the offseason gets ready to start....

Who are the Broncos key free agents this year?
Unrestricted Free Agents:
Von Miller, Evan Mathis, Vernon Davis, Antonio Smith, David Bruton, Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan, Brock Osweiler, Andre Caldwell, Ryan Harris, Tyler Polumbus, Ronnie Hillman, Jordan Norwood, Kyle Williams, Shiloh Keo, Josh Bush, and Omar Bolden.

Restricted Free Agents:
Brandon Marshall, C.J. Anderson, and Lerentee McCray

Exclusive Rights Free Agents:
Todd Davis, Brandon McManus, Bennie Fowler, Matt Paradis, and Sam Brenner

Which players should they resign and who will they most likely lose?
The Exclusive Rights Free Agents should all be back so look for McManus, Fowler, Paradis, and Davis all to return. The Restricted Free Agents should all be given high tenders so look for Marshall and Anderson to return as well. The Broncos will use the Franchise Tag on Von Miller and look to sign him to a long-term deal by the July deadline. They should try to re-sign Brock Osweiler. That move is a no-brainer in my opinion. They could probably get a fair market, team-friendly deal done with players like Ryan Harris, Jordan Norwood and even a guy like Omar Bolden. I think they should and could get another deal done with Evan Mathis. I would love them to sign Trevathan, Jackson, and Bruton, but I don't think they will be able to do it, so sadly I think all three of those guys will leave and head to other teams for bigger deals and more money. They should let Vernon Davis, Antonio Smith, Andre Caldwell, Tyler Polumbus, Josh Bush, Shiloh Keo and Ronnie Hillman go.

Who are their opponents next year?
The Broncos 2016 home opponents are:
Oakland
Kansas City
San Diego
New England
Indy
Houston
Carolina
Atlanta

The 2016 road opponents are:
Oakland
Kansas City
San Diego
Cincy
Jacksonville
Tennessee
Tampa Bay
New Orleans

Who will they open up the season with on the Thursday night opener?
As a result of winning the Super Bowl, the Broncos get to host the season-opening game on Thursday night September 8th. There are many attractive teams on the Broncos home schedule, and the NFL likes to schedule a very marquee game for that opening night game. The three choices I think it will come down to are the Pats, the Colts, and the Panthers. If Peyton Manning retires, then I think the Colts at Denver would be a great way to honor Manning and start the season. I think the league will keep the Patriots game for later in the year. I also think the Panthers coming to Denver to start the new season will be a very interesting matchup and they can play up the rematch of Super Bowl 50 to the football world. Right now, I would go with Carolina as the team that the Broncos will open up the season with.

What is the Broncos draft order for next year?
The Broncos will pick #31 and last in the first round (The Pats had to forfeit their first round pick due to Deflategate). The Broncos other draft picks are:
2nd round (#63)
3rd round (#95)
5th round (#144)
7th round (#226)
7th round (#241)
7th round (#251)

The Broncos are also expected to get a number of compensatory picks in the draft. Those are projected to be the following:
3rd round (#99)
4th round (#136)
6th round (#219)

Who will be featured on America's Game before the season starts?
Another cool thing about winning a Super Bowl is the fact that the Broncos get featured on NFL Films "America's Game" program that tells the story of the Super Bowl winning team from that previous year. This show usually premieres the night before the season starts. The show usually features three members of that team that tell the story of that team as the season transpired. I think the three that will be featured are going to be Gary Kubiak, Von Miller, and Peyton Manning. I can't wait for that special.


What was your final record as far as picks go this season?
I correctly picked the Broncos at +6 in the Super Bowl so that gave me a playoff record of 8-3. My final regular season record was 123-125-11. If you add the 8-3 playoffs to that I finished with a 131-128-11 overall record combined.