Denver Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby will test free agency, but the team has interest in bringing him back according to Vic Fangio.
The Denver Broncos have a number of important players heading to free agency. One of them is starting cornerback Bradley Roby.
Roby was a first-round pick for the Broncos in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Ohio State right after they lost the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks.
Roby was part of an incredible haul in the 2014 offseason which also included free agents DeMarcus Ware, T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, and Emmanuel Sanders.
For four of his five NFL seasons, Roby played a semi-starter role for the Broncos’ defense, and he really excelled in that role. The Broncos were confident enough in Roby after four seasons of playing that semi-starter role that they decided to trade Aqib Talib and make Roby a full-time starter.
That didn’t go so well.
Roby could have made himself a candidate for the franchise tag had he showed out in 2018, but instead, the Broncos are really left wondering whether or not they should even consider bringing him back at all.
According to head coach Vic Fangio, Roby will test the market, but the Broncos are not closing the door on possibly bringing him back.
"“We’re going to see how the free-agent market treats him and we’re going to stay in contact with him. We still have an interest in him, and we’ll see where the process takes us.”Vic Fangio (quotes via Broncos PR)"
Roby should have a decent market in free agency as he’s a player under 30 with upside who has shown in the past that he can play. His 2018 tape includes some games he’s going to want to burn before it’s too late, but he’s also made some huge plays in his five seasons with Denver.
It’s not out of the question to think Roby could make upwards of $10 million per season in free agency. That would be projecting just a slight inflation for cornerbacks of Roby’s age, experience, and pedigree.
Roby helped the Broncos win Super Bowl 50 and has publicly stated he would like to stay with the Broncos. He said back in December 2018 to Troy Renck, “This is the organization that drafted me. I bought a home here. Why would I want to leave?”
We’ll see how well that holds up as Roby tests free agency. The Broncos would probably love to have him back but he’s not going to get top-flight money from Denver. They are paying Chris Harris Jr. less than $9 million this season. There’s no way Roby is going to get more than that, especially after this past season.
It would be nice if the Broncos could keep some guys they invested high picks in beyond their rookie contract, though. They don’t need to force the issue, but if they let Roby go, they will lose three straight first-round picks in less than a calendar year with Shane Ray also hitting free agency and Paxton Lynch getting cut last September.