The Denver Broncos may not want to get too heavily involved in the first few days of free agency, but they’d better do something with their offensive line.
With Orlando Franklin on the move to San Diego and the team not particularly attached any of the centers already on the roster, it seems like a near-certainty that the Broncos will open the 2015 season sporting three new faces out of five along the offensive line.
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, despite the fact that Peyton Manning was hit fewer times than any other quarterback in the NFL (12 fewer than in 2013, in fact), you didn’t have to be Vince Lombardi to see that the 2014 iteration of Denver’s offensive line was not working. Guards were playing tackle, tackles were playing guard, and even before the season there seemed to be a never-ending parade of centers that came through Dove Valley, with the team insisting all the while that Manny Ramirez was always “the guy.” Draw your own conclusions there.
From that standpoint, it’s no wonder that none of us raised an eyebrow when Broncos beat writers expressed that the team would look to upgrade in the offseason. Most fans had already resigned themselves to the conclusion that Ryan Clady and Louis Vasquez were the only two offensive linemen on the roster worth keeping. But as free agency opened and the feelers started going out, the market perhaps started to shake out differently than Denver had anticipated.
Expected to be players for a center, guard and tackle this summer, Denver’s only move regarding its line so far has been to let Orlando Franklin, starter of 70 of 71 games since his rookie season for Denver, escape to division rival San Diego, where he joins what will be one of the most physically imposing lines in the NFL in 2015.
Additionally, the man in the media closest to the Broncos, Mike Klis of the Denver Post, expressed surprise and even concern last Saturday when the deals for right tackles started rolling in averaging more than $5 million a season. It was even later noted by Klis that the early market may force the Broncos to lower their sights at center, as well, to the likes of former Texans center Chris Myers (which for the record, I think most would be fine with) or even, get this, former Bronco J.D. Walton!
One would assume then that any needs along the offensive line beyond that might need to be addressed in the draft or in-house.
All this is to ask one question: What does a revamped offensive line look like for Denver in 2015? The Broncos opened up free agency with roughly $19.5 million in cap space and (by their own reckoning) eight positions of need. A day later, they’ve spent more than $7 million and addressed one of those positions (tight end).
That kind of money will point Denver towards the bargain barrel in free agency. What’s more, the last three starting offensive linemen drafted by the Broncos (Franklin, Walton, Zane Beadles) have all left in free agency, reportedly without being offered so much as a low-ball contract. Another high-value draft pick spent on the offensive line, 2014 third-round offensive tackle Michael Schofield, didn’t see any time on offense for the orange and blue last season.
At the risk of sounding a little too concerned a little too soon, where and how exactly does Denver’s line get significantly better this offseason? It seems to me that the best-case scenario would involve signing Myers and banking on getting two studs in the upcoming draft. Based on recent Elway draft returns on linemen, how willing would you be to bet the farm on that strategy?
The bottom line is that the Broncos are going to have to get creative somewhere, or risk the same issues they had in 2014. Perhaps, they’ll get lucky and land a salary-cap casualty bent on winning a title; but counting on that, much as counting on two stud draft picks, is a shaky proposition at best for a team with title aspirations.
Keep an eye on the Broncos offensive line progression over the next few days of free agency. What they are able to pull off may determine whether Denver gets the revamped line it was promised or if many of the same issues that we saw a year ago will persist. The offensive line is paramount in the NFL, and even more so in a Gary Kubiak system.
It’s time for Denver to get serious about their offensive line. And they need to figure it out soon.