Off Season Plans

[cdumler7]

So thought if you guys wanted we could compare off season plans for the team if you were Elway...Now obviously at this point in the year there need to be 2 different plans...One with Manning coming back and one without since that completely changes the dynamic of our off season.

So going to start with Manning coming back

Players to be Re-signed

DT--Top-3 receiver in the NFL and a guy that fits perfectly into a Kubiak like system where he can blow the top off the defense. 5-year contract 70 million. I think DT won't see the final year of the contract so really we are getting him for around $12 million a year with that extra $10 million overall just to make the contract look nice.

Franklin--Now he fits the power blocking scheme probably a little better but I would like to see this guy kicked back out to the RT spot and see what he can do in this scheme now that he has worked on his pulling from the guard position. I would give him a 4-year $20 million contract.

Virgil Green--This dude in my opinion would thrive in a Kubiak system. He already shows signs of being a great blocker and being able to get out and latch onto a guy. I think receiving wise he could prove to be much more valuable under Kubiak. I would give him a 4-year $6 million contract (about $1.5 million a year)

Rahim Moore--I know he might not be a popular guy to re-sign but the FA class and Draft class for the Safety position is about as bad as it gets. Not sure there is anybody without paying out the wazoo to get them that would be better than Moore at this point. 2-year $6 million contract.

Nate Irving--I thought this kid was finally showing some major life. He was decent in coverage and in my opinion one of the best run-stopping MLB's in the NFL. I would give him another shot this upcoming season. 2-year $3 million.

Unfortunately I see Julius Thomas and Knighton pricing themselves out of Denver. As much as I would like to keep Knighton I just have a hard time seeing it happen with Oakland most likely breaking the bank to get him.

Players to be cut...Colquitt--this guy is being paid as one of the top punters in the league and well he just hasn't been that. Saves us $2.25 million by cutting him. I would also be cutting Chris Clark. There were a ton of games where he was deactivated. Just can't carry his cap number to not even be on the 46-man roster. Saves another $1.4 million. Finally I would cut Andre Caldwell. The guy just was terrible this last year. I still can't believe that Fox would put this guy in ahead of Latimer. I know Fox hated playing rookies but come on Caldwell almost helped the other teams more than he ever helped us all year long. Another $1.35 million saved by cutting him. All-in-all this saves us about $5 million in cap space.

Restructures--I think this is the time you ask Manning to restructure his contract. He has said if it is needed to help the team then he will do it. I would say put him closer to the $15 million a year type deal. Still enough to show we respect what he brings to the team but saves the team $6.5 million in cap space. I would also talk to Ryan Clady. He really regressed because of his injury so have him go down towards the $8.5 million range and save about $2 million.

 

[cdumler7]

Figured better break this into 2 parts. Sorry if you don't like all this stuff. This is probably my favorite part of the year unless the Broncos are in the Super Bowl. I love trying to figure out how to best maximize this team and the money.

Free Agency!

So spent about $23 million on the players above and then with the cuts and restructures saves about $13.5 million. This means the Broncos still have about $20 million in cap space to spend in FA and the draft. So in reality more like about $10-12 million to actually be able to be spent with wanting to have somebody to carry over and then some for the draft obviously.

With Knighton going elsewhere a guy I would like to see brought in is BJ Raji. I wanted so badly for the Broncos to draft this guy. He is a poor man's Knighton in my opinion. I think with the right players around him he could return to some of his dominant play earlier in his career. I give him a 2-year $6 million type deal.

Rodney Hudson--This guy has been very under the radar. He is on a bad Chiefs OL but get this guy surrounded by some competent OL players and watch him shine. 2-year $6 million contract.

Nick Fairley--He seems to have worn out his welcome in Detroit. He has had weight issues and just down right motivational issues. Not usually the type of guy you want to bring in but talent wise there is a reason back in 2011 the Broncos were just about ready to trade most of their draft to move up and get this guy if he fell a couple more spots in the draft. Stick him with Ware for the off season and I think we could see a resurgence in this kid. 2-year $7 million

Charles Clay--This is that dual threat TE that we wish JT could be. I think the combination of him and Virgil make for one of the better TE's combos in the NFL. Plus Clay has a lot of versatility being able to line up in the FB position, on the line, and even spread out. $3-year $9 million.

 

[Broncos6482]

Good breakdown, cdumler. I pretty much agree with you, except maybe on your criticism of Fox not playing Latimer. It seemed to me that Latimer was lost whenever he was out there, and I believe if Fox thought Latimer was an upgrade to Caldwell he would have played Latimer. Who knows, though? Hopefully with Kubes coming in that gives Latimer the fresh start he needs to reach his potential.

So speaking of Latimer, the wide receiver situation is interesting. I'd be shocked if the Broncos bring Welker back, so anyone have any ideas how we address that? Is Sanders capable of playing the slot, allowing DT and Latimer to be the starting receivers on the outside?

 

[cdumler7]

So that finally gets us to the draft. Now honestly I have not done a ton of research on the draft yet so my later round guys are very much up in the air. Early on picks though I have some guys that I really like. Throw in have to remember the Broncos actually think they are getting 4 Comp picks this year to give us a total of 9 picks. We shall see if that is true and obviously where those picks are will in my opinion determine how we go about this draft. Such as if we get a 3rd round comp I would love the Broncos to take a chance on a guy like Ifo Ekpre-Olomu who is going to miss most of the season if not all but is a 1st round pick without the injury.

Anyway 1st round--Cameron Erving Center from Florida State--The guy has played all over the OL but seems to have found his spot at the Center position. He has the speed and technical hand work that will fit well with the ZBS in my opinion. Not the strongest guy but considering this is his first year at the position and he is already a 1st round prospect should show this kid has a very high ceiling. Fills one of our few holes still remaining.

2nd Round--Alvin Dupree DE from Kentucky. This kid was all over the place disrupting teams. He didn't have a ton of talent around him so his numbers don't blow you away but this is a guy that I wouldn't mind competing with Qaunterus Smith for time behind Ware.

3rd Round--Derron Smith FS of Fresno State. A guy that will fall because his 2014 tape wasn't always consistent but a big part of that was just no talent around him and tried to do too much. In 2012 and 2013 though the kid was lights out. Probably the best cover safety in the upcoming draft. Doesn't have the ideal height and size that you want but is a willing tackler, has great ball skills, and the team had no problem lining him up against TE's or receivers. Plus fits the bill of a 4-year starter that Elway really likes.

5th Round--Shaq Mason Guard for Georgia Tech--Fits the ZBS perfectly. Gives Schofield some competition for the LG spot. This kid is very athletic and can play all 3 inside positions if asked.

6th Round--Tyler Lockett WR Kansas State--This kid had 1,500 yards receiving this past season and is a kick off and punt return specialist. He is ridiculously fast, has good hands, good route runner, but will fall in the draft because he is pretty darn skinny. Will need to add a bit of muscle to survive the NFL but good player to have on the roster since he has special teams ability as well as receiving ability.

 

[cdumler7]

Good breakdown, cdumler. I pretty much agree with you, except maybe on your criticism of Fox not playing Latimer. It seemed to me that Latimer was lost whenever he was out there, and I believe if Fox thought Latimer was an upgrade to Caldwell he would have played Latimer. Who knows, though? Hopefully with Kubes coming in that gives Latimer the fresh start he needs to reach his potential.

So speaking of Latimer, the wide receiver situation is interesting. I'd be shocked if the Broncos bring Welker back, so anyone have any ideas how we address that? Is Sanders capable of playing the slot, allowing DT and Latimer to be the starting receivers on the outside?

Yeah I agree he looked a bit lost but Caldwell pretty much dropped everything that came his way and his kick off skills were just about as bad as you can get in the NFL. Latimer I think will thrive in this type of system. It is a lot less complicated compared to what we ran this past year so I think he wont' have to think as much. I think he can take the DeAndre Hopkins role in this offense. Sanders can play the slot position as that is what he played mostly in his time with the Steelers. I would still hope we go and draft another receiver though in the later rounds in trying to develop them. Throw in we do have a guy named Jordan Norwood who before his injury was going to make this roster. I was very impressed with what he was doing before he went on IR.

 

[WalkerBoh]

If Clark is under contract, I'd rather attempt a trade than simply dropping him. I felt we should have traded him last season, when the iron was hot, and his apparent success filling in for Clady was still fresh in GM's minds. Now it'll be a tougher sale, but I'd like to get at least draft value for him.

 

[randymon]

Went to a couple mocks and what I`ve seen so far is heavy O-line in the early rds for Denver. Not surprising based on what we`ve been hearing out of Denver. Good stuff CD but I`am a little hesitant ( where your not) on the DT free agents you like. I really don`t see a upgrade over Knighton with Raji or Fairly. Both have had playing time issues,weight issues and "effort" issues as well. If they do let Knighton go then your right, they would have to take a chance on one of them to fill the vacancy in a very tought to find quality NT Nfl. I think you roll the dice with all 3 when it comes to " can I motivate them", get them to play at their potential "hopefully" guess. I`d rather take a chance and resign Knighton who`s familiar with the D before those two. IMO of course my man. As far as your "early" likes in the upcoming draft, thay look very solid. I think they might go O-line with the first two pks though if their considering Manning and keeping him safe. I know we both like players from Kentucky for Denver so I like the DE for sure. I~am sure we`ll both think/rethink,etc when we start getting more inside info/combine stuff,etc coming ahead. I like seeing the footage, remarks, inside info,etc that gives you more of an idea about these guys and how well they might fit in for Denver. We didn`t do too bad last yr CD as a large amount of the guys we liked. did very well for themselves and most are still on their respected teams.

 

[cdumler7]

They are doing the draft again this year Randymon if you want to do the co-GM thing with me again!

The issue I have with using our 1st 2 picks of the draft on the OL is that is putting a lot of trust in some rookies to protect Manning. Throw in this is just an ok draft when looking at the OL players available in my opinion. This is where I would rather see the Broncos go FA to add to the OL such as Rodney Hudson and then resigning Franklin. I wouldn't even mind the idea of resigning Kyle Montgomery as he fits the ZBS better actually than the PBS as he played with Shanahan for quite a while. Throw in we did use 2 draft picks on the OL last year so depending how they feel about Schofield and Paradis I'm not sure needing to use 2 very high draft picks is the best way to go. All of this depends though on FA and what we do with our money.

I did forget one guy that I would cut and that is Ramirez. He is a PBS type player so I just can't see how he fits our system at all. Throw in that saves us $3 million with very little dead money. Maybe then go after a guy like Iupati to play guard in his place.

 

[randymon]

They are doing the draft again this year Randymon if you want to do the co-GM thing with me again!

The issue I have with using our 1st 2 picks of the draft on the OL is that is putting a lot of trust in some rookies to protect Manning. Throw in this is just an ok draft when looking at the OL players available in my opinion. This is where I would rather see the Broncos go FA to add to the OL such as Rodney Hudson and then resigning Franklin. I wouldn't even mind the idea of resigning Kyle Montgomery as he fits the ZBS better actually than the PBS as he played with Shanahan for quite a while. Throw in we did use 2 draft picks on the OL last year so depending how they feel about Schofield and Paradis I'm not sure needing to use 2 very high draft picks is the best way to go. All of this depends though on FA and what we do with our money.

I did forget one guy that I would cut and that is Ramirez. He is a PBS type player so I just can't see how he fits our system at all. Throw in that saves us $3 million with very little dead money. Maybe then go after a guy like Iupati to play guard in his place.

That`s a big yes CD. Had alot of fun with it and the education I learned regarding the process,evaluation,etc of the draft was great. Yeah CD, as far as the O-line goes, I wish they could keep everybody at least for depth and then maybe get lucky like Dallas in the draft or pk up some key FA`s as well. Rodney Hudson doesn`t ring a bell in my declining memory. Who`s his current team? Also, every yr come draft time, lately for sure, I am getting the feeling again,esp with Manning situation,Kubiak,etc that I`m going to be thrown a couple curve balls again when it comes to Elway so that makes it even more intriguing as to what he has up his sleave again. He`s not very boring that`s for sure. Looking forward to being involved in draft with you again CD. Appreciate that.