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Broncos 2020 free agency, draft resources among best in NFL

By Sayre Bedinger

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - OCTOBER 27: John Elway signs autographs before the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - OCTOBER 27: John Elway signs autographs before the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /
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The Denver Broncos truly have some of the best assets in the entire NFL in the 2020 offseason for both the NFL Draft as well as free agency.

If you happen to see Denver Broncos John Elway at any point between now and March, you might notice a goofy smile on his face.

I don’t know this as fact, I’m simply guessing, but Elway has more than enough reason to smile.

What reasons does Elway have to smile after his team finished a third-straight losing season and a fourth-straight season with no playoffs?

First and foremost — Elway has found a quarterback. Be as skeptical as you need to be about Drew Lock’s first five starts, but the eye test so far has been good, and Lock has had a profound impact on the culture of the franchise even in a short amount of time.

The Broncos are rightly putting their faith in him moving forward, and that alone should give Elway reason to smile, but he has plenty of other reasons to be excited this offseason. Two of the main reasons?

The cap space and draft capital at his disposal.

Look at this graph charting the value of all 32 teams’ offseason assets, and look where the Broncos are positioned.

In case that graph isn’t making a ton of sense, let me explain it a bit to you.

The further to the right you are, the better your draft capital is. The further up you are, the better your salary cap situation is. Looking through this list, you can see that the Vikings and Steelers are among the teams with the worst offseason capital possible, and the Miami Dolphins are a ridiculous outlier with obviously a bounty of picks including three first-rounders and north of $90 million in cap space.

The Broncos, with over $60 million in cap space and nine draft picks (currently), would rank among the Dolphins, Bengals, Colts, Lions, and Raiders as teams who have the best 2020 offseason capital to work with.

Look at how close the Broncos are on this graph to the Bengals, who have the top pick in the NFL Draft and over $40 million in cap space. Look at how close they are to the Las Vegas Raiders, who have multiple first-round picks as well as over $50 million in cap space.

There’s no doubt that the Broncos will be major players in the 2020 offseason both in free agency and the draft. We’ve seen John Elway be a lot more aggressive with less assets at his disposal.

Next. Broncos mock draft: Finding depth in the Senior Bowl. dark

This offseason will be critical for the Broncos getting back into AFC West and/or Wild Card contention in 2020.

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