Salary cap increase significantly boosts Broncos offseason plans

ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting the NFL’s salary cap could increase by nearly $10 million, which significantly boosts the Denver Broncos’ offseason plans.

For the Denver Broncos, this is huge news. John Elway is going to have a really interesting offseason trying to figure out how to re-sign a lot of key players, and which moves he will or won’t end up making will shape the future of this team.

First and foremost, the Broncos have to decide what they are going to do at the quarterback position. In all likelihood, Peyton Manning’s $19 million guaranteed will come off the books in some form or another, and Brock Osweiler will get re-signed to a three or four year contract that could be worth — and I’m completely guessing here — somewhere between $6 and 10 million per season.

The way there is such a demand for quarterbacks in this league, spending a lot of money on Osweiler isn’t out of the question.

The Broncos have some key defenders up for expiring contracts this offseason. Namely, Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan, Brandon Marshall, and oh by the way, some guy named Von Miller.

DeMarcus Ware is set to make $10 million next year, so what the Broncos do with his contract will be really interesting.

The Broncos also owe Ryan Clady $10 million guaranteed, and that number could be re-negotiated with his lengthy injury history now hurting his value.

A cap increase is a God-send for the Broncos, who absolutely needed anything they could get from the league. They will have plenty of cap space but also plenty of their own to try and keep happy. It’s likely some players we don’t want to leave will go this offseason, but the Broncos will now have some serious wiggle room to keep perhaps one more around than they otherwise would have been able to.