The Denver Broncos are expected to cut $10 million in salary ahead of free agency, per Jeff Legwold of ESPN.

Thanks to the salary cap increase to $279.5M, an increase of $34M compared to 2024, announced last week Denver has $41.7M currently. But GM George Paton said in January the Broncos will have about $52M in cap space.

So, where will that money come from?

Denver Broncos expected to cut $10 million in salary, but which players will get the axe?

It’s unknown exactly which players will get cut in the lead up to the new league year on March 12, but Alex Singleton and P.J. Locke are two prime candidates.

As Legwold explained in his piece last week, Paton said Denver will be closer to $52 million in mid-March.

“Paton said in January that he expected the Broncos to have ‘about $52 million’ in salary cap space by the time the new league year begins,” Legwold wrote.

That’s about a $10 million difference between their current cap space and what it should be in three weeks from now.

Taking a glance at the Broncos roster and contract situations, there are only a few players that make sense to cut because many have huge dead cap penalties attached.

The first one that stands out is John Franklin-Myers. Denver would incur $3M in dead cap, but save $7M toward the salary cap. Franklin-Myers is entering the second year of his two-year deal and he quietly racked up career highs for sacks (7.0) and TFLs (8). He may not have enjoyed a splashy season, but he was a valuable rotation guy the Broncos should keep.

Next up is Singleton, who was a great, high-volume tackler for Denver in 2022-23 before injuring his ACL last year. The Broncos could save $5.6M toward the cap by cutting the middle linebacker. And Nick Bolton would be a fantastic replacement as a versatile ILB.

Safety P.J. Locke was a full-time starter at safety, but as Sean Payton explained to Kay Adams “We’ll look closely through the middle. Middle linebacker, safety, maybe a few other positions.” Pro Football Focus gave him a 57.5 overall grade, which was 123rd among safeties. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones earned an 86.7 grade, 5th-best at the position.

Cutting Locke would save $4.2M of cap space, and together with Singleton would be $9.8M. That’d get them to basically $52M in cap space.

Defensive tackle Malcolm Roach ($3M) and Damarri Mathis ($3.3M) are other options as well.

Who will the Broncos target in free agency?

With the Denver Broncos expected to cut $10 million in salary cap, they could sign a handful of players from multiple positions like linebacker, safety, running back, tight end, and receiver.

Where Denver spends their money, exactly, remains to be seen.

But Payton said those positions are one they will likely target this offseason. Be it in the NFL Draft or free agency.

Bolton makes a lot of sense at inside linebacker. Not only would the Broncos be stealing him away from Kansas City, he’s a solid cover linebacker, which Denver hasn’t had for years.

Some have mentioned Javon Holland of the Dolphins as a safety George Paton should target. Holland had a so-so 2024 after a fantastic 2023 per PFF grades, and he’s young. But projections from Spotrac guess he will cost $15M per year. That may be too rich for the Broncos.

At running back, the Broncos could be a fit for Aaron Jones, who just came off one of his more productive seasons. Jones had 1,138 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns, plus 408 receiving yards and 2 more scores for the Vikings last year. Rico Dowdle is another intriguing, multifaceted running back. He rushed for 1,079 yards and 2 TDs with 249 receiving yards and 3 TDs in Dallas last year.

Or, the Broncos could forgo signing a running back and draft Ashton Jeanty.

At tight end, veterans like Juwan Johnson, Mike Gesicki, and Zach Ertz are all available.

Or they could target Tyler Warren or Colston Loveland in the draft.

Finally, there are a ton of free agent receivers to fit in with Courtland Sutton and the young guys. Many are too expensive, but some like Robert Woods, Marquise Brown, or Brandin Cooks could work.

As free agency kicks off, we’ll dive deeper into these potential signees.