Will the Broncos Show Interest in DT Darnell Dockett?

The Denver Broncos are no strangers to making a big splash on the free agent market. I don’t even have to list all the names for you, but John Elway has gone after — and gotten — the likes of Peyton Manning, DeMarcus Ware, Wes Welker, T.J. Ward, and Aqib Talib among others on the free agent market.

Might the Broncos be interested in another big name splash this offseason?

Specifically, might the Broncos be interested in Darnell Dockett?

Dockett, a 33-year old free agent who was just released by the Arizona Cardinals, is coming off of a season-ending injury after playing in all 16 games every single year of his pro career besides two where he played 15. The 2014 season never actually got started for Dockett, who is a former Pro Bowl defender that promises he’s going to come back in a big way in 2014.

Clearly, Dockett hasn’t been expecting to return to the Cardinals for a while.

The reason this move makes sense for the Broncos is because they have a few free agents on the defensive line, including Terrance Knighton, and Dockett is a former Pro Bowl defender who, if healthy, could likely provide a couple more strong years of play. Another reason it makes sense is because the Broncos are moving to a 3-4 defense, and Dockett has been a star in that alignment for his career in the NFL.

Yet another reason why signing Dockett makes sense is John Elway’s new ‘kicking and screaming’ theme for the team going forward, and Dockett certainly plays with a lot of fire. He would be a really intriguing addition along with veteran DeMarcus Ware for the Broncos’ defense..

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One reason why it might not make sense for the Broncos to take a look at Dockett is because of the fact that they don’t really roster many 30-year old players or older. In fact, they have five players who are already 30 or older, including Peyton Manning and impending free agents Wes Welker and Will Montgomery. The other two players over 30 are Manny Ramirez, a candidate for release, and Ware.

The Broncos are a pretty young team in general, but adding Dockett would be a really fun addition to a defensive line that just brought in position coach Bill Kollar, who has a reputation as being one of the best in the NFL.

If you’re still trying to find a positive reason why the Broncos should sign Dockett, it’s that they have no reason to worry about losing compensatory selections in next year’s draft, because he was released and would not count against them in the formula.

I would say the Broncos are a good spot for Dockett to land, but with all the positions they have to look to re-sign, they should make sure they would be getting a team-friendly deal. Despite his plans to win comeback player of the year, Dockett is approaching 34 years of age and has not played football in over a year.

For me, I would really like this pickup for the Broncos, but it has to come at their price and on their terms.