The Denver Broncos are among the league leaders heading into the month of July in available cap space at just under $29 million. It seems borderline impossible they would be at that figure considering so many talking heads thought the team was going to need to decline Von Miller’s 2021 contract option just to be able to make moves and retain other players in free agency.
The job that John Elway and the rest of the front office did during the 2020 season preparing for the salary cap decrease in 2021 really set things in motion for George Paton to do whatever he needed and wanted to the roster.
The Broncos are not in salary cap trouble. On the contrary, they are in one of the best positions in the NFL right now with the cap projected to increase again in 2022 and, for the time being, a lot of carryover expected.
Denver Broncos have plenty of team-friendly deals
The Denver Broncos do have their share of highly paid players. Von Miller has a cap number in 2021 of more than $22 million. Justin Simmons just signed a deal to make him the highest-paid player at the safety position in league history on an average annual pay basis.
Graham Glasgow is in the second year of a hefty free agent contract. Shelby Harris got paid this offseason.
It’s not like the Denver Broncos have a roster full of rookie contracts, by any means, but they do have some insane values on the roster given how much some of these guys are being paid in 2021 and how their production compares around the league at the same positions.
Which players on the roster right now are the top values?
Let’s take a look.
1. Malik Reed, EDGE
2021 cap hit: $855,000
NFL rank at EDGE: 231st
The Denver Broncos got one of the best values in the entire 2019 offseason when they signed Nevada’s Malik Reed as an undrafted free agent.
Turning on Reed’s Nevada tape at the time he was picked up, everyone could see that this guy was not only making the team, but he was going to factor into the rotation at outside linebacker.
Out of necessity, Reed has been thrust into the starting lineup and into a primary role off the edge for Vic Fangio and the Denver Broncos, and he’s produced.
In the 2020 season, Reed racked up 53 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, 33 QB pressures, eight sacks, and 17 quarterback hits.
He ranked 16th in the NFL in pressures last season and for a reference of just how productive Reed was, Khalil Mack finished last season with 50 total tackles, nine sacks, 13 QB hits, and 31 pressures.
When it comes to bang for your buck, it really doesn’t get much better than what the Denver Broncos got in 2020 from Malik Reed who was filling in for Von Miller as the team’s primary edge opposite Bradley Chubb.
Not only do the Broncos get Reed for the low price of just $855,000 in 2021, but he’s also a restricted free agent in 2022, so his salary next offseason will come in at a bargain price of under $4 million.
This was a big-time find for the Denver Broncos’ scouting department and a great recruiting job for whoever called Reed after the 2019 NFL Draft was done and convinced him to come to Denver.
2. Tim Patrick, WR
2021 salary: $3.384 million
NFL rank at WR: 48th
The Denver Broncos have obviously seen something in Tim Patrick for quite some time.
He has gone from being a fun training camp success story to being a core special teams player to slapping everyone in the face with an extremely underrated 2020 season on the whole as Courtland Sutton’s injury replacement.
The Broncos had plans to include Patrick in the 2020 offense regardless of Sutton’s health, but he is a top-three receiver on the team heading into the 2021 season once again after what he showed in 2020.
Patrick had a career year with 51 receptions for 742 yards and six touchdowns in the 2020 season, and he also didn’t drop a single pass.
Having Patrick available was huge for the Denver Broncos in 2020 even though they didn’t have the kind of team success that everyone had hoped for. His presence in the offense became essential for the team on a weekly basis and having Courtland Sutton back in 2021 is only going to make Patrick more effective with opportunities against single coverage to prove his ball dominance.
Because of his age and contract, Patrick is clearly one of the Broncos’ most attractive pieces in a potential trade situation. The Broncos shouldn’t trade Patrick without great value coming back in return, though, and the primary motivation should be to find ways to get this receiver group as many reps together as possible if they can all stay healthy.
3. Dre’Mont Jones, DL
2021 salary: $875,800
NFL rank on DL: 160th
Of all the players Denver Broncos fans should be really excited about, it seems Dre’Mont Jones gets arguably the least attention.
Jones is a budding superstar on the defensive line for the Broncos, and not everyone has taken notice of that quite yet, even within Broncos Country.
In 2019, he showed big-time potential by winning AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after a big game against the Detroit Lions, but he really put things together consistently in 2020.
Jones played 13 games in 2020 and finished with 6.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hits, 16 pressures, and seven tackles for loss. He sat out a few weeks with an injury that sounded like it was going to be way worse than it ended up being, but year three for Jones should be a continuation of the great progress we’ve seen since his final season at Ohio State.
The Broncos got Jones as a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and he’s definitely become a core piece of Vic Fangio’s unit.
Despite playing in only 13 games, Jones’ sack production in 2020 was right up there with guys like Fletcher Cox and Ndamukong Suh and his contract value to the Denver Broncos extends well beyond just this season.
The Broncos not only have Jones for a cap hit of just over $1.1 million this season, but he’s got one more year yet on his rookie deal.
Denver Broncos: Players who could be traded before 2021 season
The Denver Broncos will be of great interest in the trade rumor department for the next month or so. Which players could be traded before the season?
With the production we’ve already seen from Jones, his contract is a tremendous value to the Denver Broncos.