We’re all stuck talking about Von Miller, and that’s understandable — he’s great, he’s worth a lot of money and at some point he’s going to get it — but he’s far from the only player to face a contract dispute.
In reality, it happens all the time. Players want to get paid, and front offices can be frugal — yes, you can be frugal within a $155 million salary cap.
Miller just happens to be one of the most high-profile cases in a while. But soon, he’ll just be another guy who got paid.
Going forward, they’ll be plenty athletes for John Elway to negotiate with, including a couple key figures on the Denver Broncos Super Bowl winning team.
With that said, here are the next five players set to get paid the big bucks by John Elway … or leave the Mile High City in favor of greener (as in cash money) pastures:
5. Bradley Roby
Bradley Roby, for all intents and purposes, is under the Broncos’ thumb for the next three seasons, so there’s no reason to worry. But his day will come.
Right now, Roby is the No. 3 cornerback on the Broncos’ roster, but that doesn’t even begin to represent his talent; on 31 other teams, he’d be an elite No. 2, if not a No. 1. Unfortunately, he just so happens to have two of the 10 best cornerbacks in the NFL sharing the secondary with him.
That will change, though, as Aqib Talib and Chris Harris get older, and Roby is slowly moved into a larger and larger role. By the time he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2019, if he’s not the Broncos No. 1 corner on the outside, plenty of other organizations will be hoping to pay him like one.
While Roby has more years remaining on his contract than anyone else on this list, there’s a chance that he walks away with the biggest contract of the bunch in the long run.
4. Brandon McManus
Everybody loves kickers!
Brandon McManus is one of the best kickers in the NFL. His 85.7 percent conversion rate may just be middle of the pack, but he’s clutch, and he can hit from almost anywhere, going 5-7 on field goal attempts 50-plus yards out.
Unfortunately for him, he’s currently the 49th highest-paid kicker in the NFL, making $465 thousand a year on average. That means that there are upwards of 18 non-starting kickers, guys who may not even be in the league, making more than the Super Bowl champion.
This offseason, McManus will become a restricted free agent, which means the Broncos will have every opportunity to bring him back at a reasonable price if they do so desire, but there’s no question that he’s going to be making significantly more in 2017.
Even if the Broncos only see him as a top-15 kicker in the NFL, that’s going to cost them $2.5 million at the low end.
3. Sylvester Williams
The Denver Broncos had the option to exercise Sylvester Williams’ fifth-year option in 2017, which would have paid Williams $6.757 million, but John Elway passed. At the price, on average, Williams would have been the 11th highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL.
Is he worth that kind of money? Apparently, that’s what Elway’s trying to figure out.
It’s a gamble, though. If Williams ends up having a breakout season, he could get paid on the open market. Remember, Malik Jackson‘s breakout season earned him $14.25 million a year.
Now, they play different positions, and Williams is more likely to come in around $7 to $10 million, but that’s still more than he would have made under the fifth-year option.
2. Darian Stewart
Contract Status: UFA in 2017
T.J. Ward is definitely the most well-known Broncos safety, but you could make a strong case that Darian Stewart is the Broncos best safety, and he’ll be looking to get paid like it when he becomes a free agent this offseason.
Right now, Stewart is getting paid $2.1 million a year on average, $3.5 million less than Ward. And if he has another season like he did last year, a season where he helps solidify the best secondary in the NFL, there’s no reason he won’t find someone willing to pay him $7 million a season — that’s what the Eagles just paid for Rodney McLeod.
Will Elway be willing to pony up the money? Or will he trust that one of the two safeties he drafted this offseason will be ready to step into his role?
We’ll see, but there’s no question that Stewart is deserving of a big payday.
1. Emmanuel Sanders
Not only is Emmanuel Sanders the most likely player on this list to get paid first, but he’s unquestionably going to make more money than the rest — unless Roby truly turns into a top-10 cornerback in the NFL.
Reports are that Sanders wants to make $12 million a year, which would make him one of the top-10 highest-paid wideouts in the NFL.
And if Doug Baldwin can make that kind of money, so can Emmanuel Sanders.
In two seasons with the Denver Broncos, Sanders has 177 receptions (8th in the league) for 2,539 yards (6th in the league) and 15 touchdowns (15th in the league). With those numbers, it’s hard to deny that Sanders isn’t one of the 10 best wide receivers in football.