2. Ben Powers, OG (4 years, $52 million)
The Denver Broncos knew they had to upgrade in the trenches offensively, and they definitely did that. In the first wave of the first day of free agency, they not only handed out the $87.5 million to Mike McGlinchey, but before that, they handed out a $52 million deal to former Baltimore Ravens offenisve guard Ben Powers.
With Dalton Risner hitting free agency as well, Ben Powers was arguably the top option on the open market for the Denver Broncos to pursue. While he was with the Ravens, Powers showed himself to be one of the best pass protecting guards in the game, allowing zero sacks last year and just one QB hit.
Look, say what you want about how much guys get paid in free agency, whether they are overpaid in this first wave, or whatever -- I will take as many guys in Denver that gave up 0 sacks in a full NFL season as I can get. Obviously, George Paton and Sean Payton agreed.
Quite frankly, I wasn't sure if the Broncos would actually go after a big-money free agent guard if they also went after tackles, and it appears as though the bank of Walmart is fully open for the team to make moves as they see fit.
Ben Powers is only 26, so he also fits my personal "brand" of signing younger free agents with upside to be longer-term starters. It doesn't always work out that way, but it will be nice in the future if Powers is still playing at a high level and the Broncos can re-sign him again at the age of just 30 when this contract is up.
But for the here and now, the Broncos needed to address the offensive line which was injured, battered, and broken, and gave up 63 sacks (most in the NFL) in 2022.