The Denver Broncos are likely just days away from naming a new head coach and as soon as they do, business will need to shift to other offseason activities.
The free-agent signing period will open in March with the start of the new league year and the Broncos are going to need to create some cap space in order to be spenders when that time comes.
The team has several contracts that it can flat-out eliminate but there are some possibilities for other deals to be reworked as well. That is what we will be looking at here.
Where can the Broncos trim some fat off the salary cap? Which players are not worth their current deals and how can the team set itself up best to be ready for the frenzy of free agency?
Here are five deals that the team needs to address.
Contracts that the Broncos must eliminate or restructure this offseason
Graham Glasgow, Guard/Center
It would be a shame for the Broncos to have to release Graham Glasgow, as he is a better center for the team than Lloyd Cushenberry by a lot, but this is an easy call.
Glasgow has a cap number of $14 million for the 2023 season, the last on his current deal. Only five players on the entire roster will count more against the cap.
The team would save $11 million in cap space by moving on from Glasgow and that should be all but a certainty due to that fact. The team would take a $3 million dead money hit, but saving that much is an easy call for a team that currently has just $9.4 million available, according to Over the Cap.
Glasgow has appeared in 37 games in three seasons for the Broncos and made 13 starts this past season. The offensive line as a whole seemed to play a bit better with him at center as opposed to Cushenberry. But the team is not going to be able to justify that price tag for the 30-year-old.
Glasgow took a pay cut ahead of the 2022 season and he may be asked to do so again. If not, he will be looking for a new team.
Decision: See if Glasgow will take a huge pay cut since the offensive line is already weak. If not, release him.
Contracts the Broncos must eliminate or restructure: Chase Edmonds, Running back
Chase Edmonds spent a lot of time hurt during his Broncos tenure after being acquired in the deal that sent Bradley Chubb to Miami, but I am of the belief that he can be a solid piece for a team that is pretty weak at running back.
But there is no way, no chance that Edmonds is going to get paid the $5.9 million he is scheduled to make next season. That is more than all but five offensive players on the roster.
With there being no dead cap hit at all in regards to cutting him, he could be an easy player for the organization to cut ties with. In other words, he is going to have to take a major cut in pay if he wants to stay in the Mile High City.
Edmonds was one of the bigger names in free agency at the running back position this offseason, leading the Dolphins to sign him to a two-year, $12.6 million deal, quite a bit for an unproven back. But he didn’t fit with that team at all and they traded him after he played in just eight games.
He played in just five games for the Broncos, rushing for 125 yards as a backup to Latavius Murray. He could be a good third-down or change-of-pace back for the Broncos going forward but he’s going to have to do so at a fraction of his current contract.
Decision: Ask Edmonds to take at least a 50 percent cut in pay. There won’t be a huge market for him as a free agent, so he could easily agree.
Contracts the Broncos must eliminate or restructure: Ronald Darby, Cornerback
Ronald Darby has played for the Broncos the past two seasons but has logged just 16 total games with the team as injuries have shortened each of them. He will also be coming off of a torn ACL.
Darby just turned 29 years old and even though the Broncos are already his fourth NFL team, he could have a lot of good football left in him. But he has a cap number of $12.6 million for the 2023 season and cutting him saves the Broncos $9.6 million.
That’s an easy decision.
The Broncos have an All-Pro in Patrick Surtain and rookie Damarri Mathis put together a strong season. Free-agent signing K’Waun Williams also played well for the team. The team will need to look for depth at the cornerback position but there is no way Darby is getting that kind of money.
This might be the easiest decision on this list.
Decision: Release Darby to save $9.6 million in cap space.
Contracts the Broncos must eliminate or restructure: Jacob Martin, Linebacker
This won’t be an easy decision because the Broncos made a trade before the deadline last season to acquire Jacob Martin, only to see him land on injured reserve before the season ended.
He is set to count $4.8 million against the cap in 2023 but the Broncos could recoup $3.8 million of that by cutting him.
With Randy Gregory, Baron Browning and Nik Bonitto on the roster, Martin will be a rotational reserve pass-rusher in Denver unless things change with any of those players and his contract is a bit high. For comparison, Browning is set to make $1.3 million next season.
A savings of $3.8 million may not seem like much but everything adds up. It would be nice to keep Martin around, especially with him being a guy born and raised in Denver, but it will need to come at a reduced price.
Decision: Approach Martin about a pay cut and release him if a deal can’t be agreed upon.
Contracts the Broncos must eliminate or restructure: Brandon McManus, Kicker
This is another tough call as Brandon McManus is still considered one of the better kickers in the league despite having a bit of a down year in 2022. Do the Broncos hang onto the veteran or look for a younger, cheaper option?
McManus still has two years left on his deal but he is scheduled to count nearly $5 million against the salary cap in 2023. Looking at the deal the Seattle Seahawks just reached with their kicker Jason Myers, a good kicker can command some money when their deal is up.
McManus has been the team’s kicker since the 2014 season. He is the only holdover remaining from the Super Bowl 50 team. But the Broncos would save $2.5 million against the cap if they cut him before June 1st but if they wait until after that date, that number jumps up to $3.7 million.
Paying specialists premium money is not always ideal and that is the main reason the team moved on from punter Sam Martin before the start of the 2022 season.
Many teams around the league find new kickers regularly, usually as undrafted free agents but those are not always reliable options. For instance, look back to this past Monday’s Wild Card game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers where Dallas kicker Brett Maher missed four extra points.
The Broncos could also use a late-round draft pick to select a kicker.
Decision: Draft a kicker or find one in the undrafted signing process to at least provide competition for McManus. Wait until after June 1st and unless McManus is a decidedly better option, let the veteran go in order to get more cap space available for the future.