Broncos OT Orlando Franklin Refutes Reports That He’s Leaving
Amid reports that said he would likely be leaving the Denver Broncos this offseason, offensive lineman Orlando Franklin took to Twitter on Tuesday night to speak out on his impending free agency and where he currently stands.
Welp…
To be clear, the original report did say that Franklin could stay if the Broncos pull off a miracle or overpay for his services, but it was basically a send-off for the former second round pick, one of the top draft picks in the John Elway era in Denver.
Franklin proved over the last four seasons that he can play both right tackle and left guard pretty well, and he excelled at left guard this past year for the Broncos, grading out from Pro Football Focus as the team’s top offensive lineman. That said, the Broncos can’t necessarily afford to pay Franklin and two other new starters on the offensive line the kind of money he might command from another team.
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The reasons for Franklin leaving make sense. You get one shot at a big contract in this league (usually) so it’s not atypical for players to jump at that opportunity. Fans would certainly like to see players like Franklin take a bit of a hometown discount (whatever that means) to stay and play for their beloved Broncos, but that’s rarely how it works out.
Franklin has been a very good Bronco, and for him to defend the fact that he at least hasn’t said that he’s leaving is an encouraging sign if you want him back in blue and orange.
Spano is not the first to report that Orlando Franklin would be gone from Denver. Multiple media outlets have opined that he could be leaving, but this is the first ‘definitive’ report we’ve read either way, painting his situation black and white. If Franklin leaves, that’s just one more hole the Broncos have to fill this offseason, among plenty.
John Elway and company should have plenty of cap space with which to work this offseason, but because their own players are commanding such strong interest elsewhere, the Broncos have been forced to look at the market for bargains, and they’ve proven they can find upgrades.
The Broncos paid less and got an upgrade last offseason in Emmanuel Sanders when they let go of Eric Decker. They paid less the year before for Louis Vasquez and watched Zane Beadles go to Jacksonville. I’ll let you decide who came out on top there.
The Broncos spent less money on the running back position and let Knowshon Moreno walk to Miami. C.J. Anderson made the Pro Bowl.
The sum is bigger than the parts in Denver, so losing Franklin would be an off-putting blow but no doubt, Elway could fix the situation and perhaps even upgrade the Broncos with Mike Iupati or Clint Boling, both of whom are free agents along with Franklin.