Denver Broncos 2020 cap space situation heading into offseason
The Denver Broncos are among the league leaders in cap space heading into the 2020 offseason. What kind of money does this team have to spend?
The future seems pretty darn bright for the Denver Broncos right now.
They seem to have discovered their young quarterback of the future in Drew Lock, who went 4-1 in five starts down the stretch of the 2019 season.
They have five top 100 draft selections and seven picks in the first four rounds overall. When compensatory picks are awarded, the Broncos could wind up with 12 draft picks in total, including adding a pick in the fifth round.
The roster is full of young, talented players, and the Broncos have the assets for quite a bit more.
In addition to a talented, young roster, a lot of draft capital, and a QB of the future in place, the Broncos are one of the top teams in the NFL heading into the 2020 offseason in terms of total cap space.
According to Spotrac.com, the Broncos currently have $60.367 million in cap space.
That gives the Broncos the 12th-most cap space in the league with plenty of room to grow at this point.
The team is expected in the coming months to move on from quarterback Joe Flacco, who carries a $23.6 million cap hit going into the 2020 offseason.
The Broncos will have a dead cap hit of $13.6 million and will save $10 million against the 2020 salary cap if they cut Flacco.
That would put them up to roughly $70.4 million in cap space.
Another move the Broncos are expected to make is to decline Ron Leary’s fourth-year option. He is currently set to count more than $9.3 million against the 2020 salary cap, but the Broncos can save around $8.44 million by declining his option.
That would put them at around $78.84 million in 2020 cap space, with around $10 million dedicated to the draft class, so around $68.84 million of working space before making any other moves.
Not that they will make these moves, but they can save $5 million by declining Todd Davis’ option, $3 million by cutting kicker Brandon McManus, $3.875 million if they release Jeff Heuerman, just under $1 million by releasing Billy Winn, and a few others that would add up.
The Broncos may not make all of those moves, but there’s no doubt that this team will have a ton of cap space this year, and they’ll be able to do pretty much whatever they want in free agency as a result.
John Elway and the Broncos’ front office did a masterful job working free agency in the 2014 offseason when they signed all of DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, TJ Ward, and Emmanuel Sanders.
The going rate for players is a lot different now compared to then, but the Broncos also have a lot more cap space now than they did then.
This is one of the benefits of having your top QB on a rookie contract, and we know John Elway has historically been very good about putting a strong roster around an established quarterback.
Next. Denver Broncos 2020 New Year wish list. dark
Let’s see what kind of magic this team can work in the 2020 offseason.