It looks like the other teams in the AFC West are tired of seeing the Denver Broncos make all the splashes.

Dwight Freeney signed with the first team that got desperate enough to meet his financial demands. (Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)

Dwight Freeney was signed by the San Diego Chargers over the weekend after losing Melvin Ingram for the season due to injury, and the Oakland Raiders have surprisingly jumped into the Charles Woodson hunt.

Previously it has been the Broncos making the most noise in free agency and the draft and they’ve been established as a favorite to win the AFC and the Super Bowl.

Denver showed last season they’re only a couple of pieces away from winning a championship. They were also in pretty good shape in regards to the salary cap when the offseason started. A team like that can afford to be aggressive in free agency and it can be good strategy.

But when you’re in financial purgatory like the Raiders, or if you’re more like 11 players away rather than one like the Chargers, spending big in free agency can end up hurting more than it helps.

In the Chargers’ case they were desperate and it showed with Freeney’s contract numbers. They have a lot of holes on their roster but the loss of Ingram meant they didn’t have a single legitimate pass rusher. They absolutely had to get one of the few big-name defensive ends left in the free agent market.

Considering the Chargers have one of the worst offensive lines in the league, seeing them spend a maximum of $13.35 million over two years on an old defensive end is good news for the rest of the division. Not to mention the Chargers will have to adjust their defensive scheme to accommodate him since he doesn’t fit well in a 3-4 alignment.

It also makes the one-year $1.4 million deal the Broncos gave ex-Charger Shaun Phillips look like an absolute steal. It will be interesting to see whether Phillips or Freeney ends up with more sacks in 2013.

As far as the Raiders go they need to do something to give their fans hope. But bringing Woodson to Oakland wouldn’t do much in terms of wins and losses. This year is a complete bust for them regardless of what they do before the start of the season and their front office knows it. A big name would give their fans something to cheer about and a reason to get dressed up like clowns on Sundays.

Woodson would bring value for sure, but Oakland is looking way beyond the one or two years he has left in the league. Other than to mentor the young guys he wouldn’t make a meaningful impact on the big picture. It just doesn’t seem that a stud like Woodson would be okay with that. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where he would choose to languish through a 2 to 4 win season when his career is coming to a close.

Even though Woodson may make a visit to Oakland tomorrow it’s highly doubtful he ends up there. The Raiders don’t have much money to spend and they certainly can’t give him the chance to compete for a Super Bowl. This looks like an obvious leverage tactic by the Woodson camp. They’re using the Raiders to get every last drop of cash they can out of a good team.

Odds are that Woodson will end up with a contender, and my guess is he’ll sign exactly where he’s wanted to sign all along; in Denver. He just wants John Elway to open that wallet a little bit wider before he does so.

With a club like the Denver Broncos living on the block teams will do almost anything to keep up, even if they’re just covering up crumbling houses with layers of paint.

The recent developments show that the rest of the division is pulling out all the stops. And at the very least they want to their fan bases to see they’re giving it a try. A lot of things come down to image in the NFL and these moves provide the right image.

Unfortunately for them any image they project won’t make a bit of difference. The Broncos have the AFC West locked down until Peyton Manning hangs up his cleats.

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Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Woodson has come and gone. We know the Broncos made him an offer but seeings how he is not on the roster, we can assume the offer was too low for Woodson’s tastes. The Raiders now appear more and more likely to sign Woodson but the Giants, Panthers and even the Lions have recently emerged as interested suitors. I doubt there isn’t a team that would benefit from his experience and skills but so far no organization seems interested in offering a substantial down payment for them. Woodson has gone from demanding a top salary to demanding he play for a contender to confessing that he is just a ball player looking to play ball. Where ever he ends up it is hard to see him as a Bronco at this point.

John Elway and company aren’t afraid to spend money, of course. Reference Peyton Manning’s  contract as evidence of that or just look at the sizable compromise they were reportedly ready to offer Elvis Dumervil. Sure, it was a pay cut, but it was still a sizable offer. The Broncos were one of the most aggressive teams in free agency this year as well. The minute the free agency clock started ticking this off season, the Broncos went on a shopping spree that only Kim Kardashian could top! Still, that doesn’t mean the Broncos have to have the best free agent safety on their team in order to remain an elite squad.

Woodson would be a nice addition and the Broncos have $7 million in cap room remaining. However, the Broncos don’t need him. For all the talk of Rahim Moore’s postseason blunder, the Bronco secondary was terrific last season. As many have said over and over again, Moore has to learn from that and move on. The consensus from the coaching staff is that he can and will.

Furthermore, it’s not as if the Broncos haven’t already made moves to sure up their defensive back field. They added Shaun Phillips to replace Dumervil’s production. While Phillips is not a defensive back necessarily, pressure is a defensive backs best friend. Adding Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will allow Chris Harris  to either line up as a corner or line up as one of the best cover safeties in the AFC. As good as Harris was at corner last year it is easy to forget his natural position is actually safety.

Additionally, the Broncos added Kayvon Webster in the third round of this year’s draft. The knock on Webster isn’t his skill set or his potential. It was that many felt the Broncos’ reached too far to acquire him. Still, Webster is a versatile play maker who can line up in coverage and also tackles with authority. Just watch the film on this guy. I’m not going to go crazy and say Steve Atwater but then again, I just did.

Sure, picking up Woodson would be a statement. It would be an upgrade as well, no one is denying that. Who knows, he may end up a Bronco. Stranger things than that have happened. The one thing we’ve seen from this organization during the off season, however, is that they move decisively. Only Dumervil slipped away and that wasn’t because the Broncos didn’t make their offer and intentions clear right away. When they have wanted a player, they have been able to obtain him quickly and without unnecessary negotiations.

Like previous visitors Dwight Freeney and John Abraham, Woodson left without a contract. It speaks volumes to the confidence the Broncos have in the pieces they already have in place. This team can win a championship without Woodson. Of course, he claims he’d like to play for a contender. Well, Charles, there is one in Denver.

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Oct 30, 2011; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Clady (78) and offensive guard Zane Beadles (68) line up for a down during the second quarter against the Detroit Lions at Sports Authority Field. The Lions defeated the Broncos 45-10. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos have hired former offensive line coach, Alex Gibbs in a consulting capacity. Gibbs, a guru of the zone blocking scheme was the Broncos’ offensive line coach from 1995-2003. During his tenure, Denver enjoyed 4 different 1000 yard+ rushers: Terrell Davis (1995-1998), Olandis Gary (1999), Mike Anderson (2000), and Clinton Portis (2002-2003). In 2001, the three-headed running back monster of Davis (701yds), Anderson (678 yds), and Gary (228 yds) turned out 1607 yards in Gibbs’ scheme. In 2003 Portis, Anderson, and Quentin Griffin combined for 2193 yards rushing.

During the same period of time, the passing game thrived as well. In John Elway’s final 3 seasons the Broncos averaged over 3,700 yards passing per season.  Even after the retirement of the greatest QB in team history – and by many accounts, league history – the passing game still averaged over 3,700 yards per season. In today’s NFL that does not seem like a lot but the passing game was not yet as prevalent then as it is today. When you take into account the balance of the passing game and running game, Gibbs’ offensive lines protected some of the most prolific offenses to that point in NFL history. Additionally, the Broncos did not allow more than 35 QB sacks in any one season from 1995-2000.

It would appear that in bringing Gibbs back into the organization, in addition to drafting Davis-esque running back Montee Ball is a sign that the Broncos look to rely more heavily on the running game in 2013 than it did in 2012. Ball, a self-proclaimed Broncos fan who idolized Denver’s all-time leading rusher, has had his running style likened to the 1998 NFL Most Valuable Player.

Per the teams website Gibbs will work under offensive line coach Dave Maguza, focusing his efforts on the younger players’ development. We have been told since the signing of Peyton Manning in March, 2013 that there is no “Plan B”. Implementing “Plan G(ibbs)” is a sure sign that Broncos’ front office is doubling down on “Plan A”.

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