The Denver Broncos are making preparations for the start of free agency and that included terminating the working relationship with a few players on Friday in order to get back some precious cap space.
The NFL league year begins on Wednesday and that is the day that teams can officially begin to sign free agents from around the league. The Broncos will be looking to make several roster upgrades through this process and could be looking at a high number of players.
The Broncos had several players on the roster that needed to be looked at in terms of a restructure or just a flat out release and the team predictably decided to part ways with three of them just ahead of the opening of the free-agent market.
The Broncos came to terms on the releases of Graham Glasgow, Ronald Darby and Chase Edmonds. Those three moves brought the team an additional $26.5 million in cap space, making the decisions pretty easy to make. The release of Glasgow alone saved the team $11 million.
Glasgow was one of the team's big free-agent signings in 2020 after four seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played guard and center for the team and made 37 starts in three seasons. He didn't play terribly, but he just wasn't worth the contract that he was under.
Darby was more of a miss in free agency. The Broncos signed him ahead of the 2021 season but he suffered injuries in both of his seasons with the team, limiting him to just 16 games. A torn ACL last season cost him the majority of the year.
After four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Edmonds signed a big deal with the Miami Dolphins last offseason but quickly got lost in the shuffle there. The Dolphins sent him to the Broncos along with a first-round pick in exchange for Bradley Chubb ahead of the league's trade deadline.
Edmonds played in just five games for the Broncos and he was a clear cap casualty possibility heading into this offseason as he was carrying a cap number of just under $6 million per year.
The Broncos will now look to turn these moves into free agency gold this offseason. As of right now, the Broncos have about $33.1 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap. Only five teams have more.