No league faces more year-to-year turnover than the NFL, and the Broncos certainly don’t escape that reality.
Unlike baseball or basketball where the players hold massive amounts of power in free agency, organizations rule the roost in the NFL. With contracts only being partially guaranteed, if a team doesn’t want you anymore, you’re gone; it’s extremely easy to part ways with a player without enduring much penalty at all.
So, with that in mind, here are five starters who could be playing their final games in the Mile High City, for one reason or another.
Sylvester Williams
The Denver Broncos wanted to see more from Sylvester Williams and said as much when they declined his fifth-year option, which meant that he’d become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
If Sly proved himself, he’d likely earn much more money than that the fifth-year option would have paid him, but if fell flat or regressed, the Broncos would be able to move on from him a year early with a few extra million dollars in their pocket.
So far, it’s looking as if the latter is more likely.
Sly hasn’t been nearly as effective as he was last season, as evidenced by the team’s run defense, which is significantly worse than it’s been over the last few years. Pro Football Focus has given Sly a grade of 45.1 (out of 100), which makes him the 85th best interior defender in the NFL; that’s not great.
Unless he has an other-worldly finish to the season, there’s a solid chance John Elway lets Sly walk in the offseason.
