The Denver Broncos will have plenty to work with in the 2019 offseason. We take a look at the players under contract for the 2019 season.
As the Denver Broncos move closer and closer to the 2019 offseason, who can we plan on being with the team after this year?
The Broncos’ roster will obviously need some re-tooling, but will also get back some key players off of injured reserve and is set up well in terms of young talent from the 2018 rookie class.
Let’s take a look — one position group at a time — which players are under contract for the Broncos going into next season.
Quarterback
Case Keenum
Keenum is currently the only quarterback on the Broncos’ roster beyond the 2018 season. The Broncos will have some interesting decisions to make with the young players they brought in this year in Kevin Hogan and Garrett Grayson.
Hogan is a restricted free agent, so the Broncos will likely be able to bring him back for another year at a very low price.
Grayson is on the practice squad right now so unless he’s signed to the active roster, he will have to hope the Broncos bring him back as a reserve/future signing to compete again next offseason.
Keenum carries a $21 million cap hit and a $10 million dead cap hit if the Broncos cut or trade him. That dead cap figure alone would probably cause John Elway to lose sleep at night. He has only really bitten the bullet on a couple of moves that involved significant dead money, and they both happened in 2018 (Menelik Watson, Paxton Lynch).
In all likelihood, Keenum will return for another year, but given his cap figure, it would be a shock if the Broncos didn’t try to re-work his deal based on his performance this season.