Broncos Will Visit With Trio of Veteran Free Agents
The Denver Broncos are planning on hosting a trio of veteran free agents as the week progresses, per varying reports.
On Wednesday, the team will visit with veteran safety Darian Stewart, who played last season with the Baltimore Ravens and actually played really well. He graded out a +7.0 from Pro Football Focus and played 899 snaps last season, racking up 53 tackles and an interception along the way.
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In addition to Stewart, who is reportedly going to visit on Wednesday, the Broncos are planning to court free agent guard Shelley Smith, formerly of the Texans, Rams, and Dolphins, who was drafted by Gary Kubiak out of Colorado State in 2011. He is also being pursued by the Seahawks, among others.
Smith didn’t play great last season for the Dolphins, but had a really nice 2013 campaign with the Rams and could be a guy that the Broncos buy low that ends up being an effective starter.
Another player the Broncos plan on visiting with is defensive lineman Vance Walker, who is making the AFC West rounds. Walker is a solid rotational defensive lineman who is making the rounds in the AFC West.
Walker played for the Raiders in 2013, where he enjoyed his most productive season setting a career high with 40 tackles and three sacks.
The thing that I like about all these potential signings is the Broncos are not looking at older guys. These are guys entering the prime years of their career and have some upside to be both role players as well as starters if needed.
John Elway and the Broncos know they couldn’t get in the first wave of free agency, so this second wave will prove to be absolutely critical moving forward. We saw this team sit back and wait (for the most part) in the 2013 offseason when they signed Louis Vasquez, Wes Welker, and a bunch of other guys who were cast off from their previous teams but still had plenty of upside.
That could be similar to what we’re looking at here.