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Denver Broncos: Projecting market value of in-house free agents

By Sayre Bedinger

DENVER, CO - AUGUST 18: Running back Royce Freeman #37 of the Denver Broncos celebrates a second quarter touchdown with center Matt Paradis #61 during an NFL preseason game against the Chicago Bears at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on August 18, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 18: Running back Royce Freeman #37 of the Denver Broncos celebrates a second quarter touchdown with center Matt Paradis #61 during an NFL preseason game against the Chicago Bears at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on August 18, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 09: Phillip Lindsay #30 of the Denver Broncos celebrates with Jared Veldheer #66 after scoring a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on December 9, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SANTA CLARA, CA – DECEMBER 09: Phillip Lindsay #30 of the Denver Broncos celebrates with Jared Veldheer #66 after scoring a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on December 9, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /

Jared Veldheer, Tackle

Age: 31 (32 in June)

The Broncos acquired Veldheer from the Arizona Cardinals last offseason via trade, giving up a sixth-round selection for a proven veteran starter.

It proved to be a solid move for the Broncos, though Veldheer certainly wasn’t a dominating presence at the right tackle position. He also struggled with injury, which has been an issue for him throughout his NFL career.

Veldheer has not played a full 16 game slate since his age 28 season with the Cardinals back in 2015. Since that year, he has missed 15 games in total.

Health has to be factored into Veldheer’s value, and the fact that right tackles are simply not valued as highly on the free agent market as left tackles are.

If Veldheer wants to continue playing, he might be best suited to take a short-term deal this year and see where things go. There are currently three right tackles averaging over $9 million per season on their current contract, but Veldheer is not going to get close to that based on age, production, and injury history.

He should command a one or two-year deal from some team (maybe the Broncos) at about half the price of the best right tackles in the league.

Projected max value: $5-6 million/year, two-year deal

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