The Broncos aren’t going to be the NFL’s offseason champs this year. And that’s a good thing.
While other teams were busy coming to terms with pending free agents over the weekend, making a farce of the league’s “legal tampering period,” Denver was oddly quiet; the franchise that has dominated the offseason the past three years seemed disinterested in the proceedings. And as Mike Klis of the Denver Post reported yesterday, being on the outside looking in is a place Broncos fans should get used to during free agency; John Elway and Company aren’t going to be big spenders this time around.
So don’t look for signings like DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward. Don’t expect a surprise addition like Wes Welker. And don’t count on adding the biggest name on the market like Peyton Manning.
In part, Denver figures to be an observer in 2015 because of money issues; they simply don’t have the cap space available to compete for the big names, in part because of their high-priced additions the past three year. But the new approach is also a change in strategy; Denver doesn’t believe they need to add more stars in order to compete for a title.
Last season, the Broncos took to the field with a roster loaded with talent. By year’s end, they had 11 Pro Bowl players, an embarrassment of riches. But ultimately, Denver couldn’t win a single playoff game; even with all of those stars, they were still one-and-done in the postseason.
That’s because winning isn’t just about talent. It’s also about intangible things like chemistry, grittiness, smarts and motivation. And quite often, those traits are brought to a team not by its stars, but by its role players.
That’s why the Broncos need to leave the shiny, sparkly items for other teams to overspend on; those additions are for franchises looking to make a splash in order to create hope amongst their fan base and sell tickets, not those that are true Super Bowl contenders.
Why? Because big-money free agents are inherently flawed players, guys who have some sort of baggage. That’s why they are on the open market, available to the highest bidder; otherwise, their old team would have never let them leave.
Think about the Broncos high-profile free agents as examples. Yes, Julius Thomas is a dynamic pass catcher, but he’s also a tight end who can’t block a lick and a player who spent seven weeks on the sidelines nursing a bad ankle. Sure, Orlando Franklin has a nasty streak that’s nice to have in an offensive lineman, but he’s also too slow afoot to play tackle and too tall to be an effective guard. And granted, Terrance Knighton is quick and agile for a man tipping the scales at 300-plus pounds, but he’s also a guy who was fined repeatedly for being overweight and appears on the cusp of eating himself out of the league.
Yet, all three of these soon-to-be-former Broncos are going to get huge contracts from a team that thinks they can solve their problems. But anyone who has paid close attention knows that those signings are going to be wrought with risk; they are gambles, at best.
That’s why the Broncos should be shopping on a different aisle this offseason. They need to be looking at the batch of free agents who are available for the other reason teams let player walk – because they aren’t stars. They need to be signing guys who aren’t going to make it onto the SportsCenter ticker when the deal is announced.
Cecil Shorts would be a nice addition, given that the wide receiver was able to post respectable numbers despite spending the last four seasons in the NFL’s version of purgatory – Jacksonville.
Owen Daniels would be the perfect tight end in Gary Kubiak’s offense, especially since he’s spent all nine of his seasons in the NFL playing in the Broncos new head coach’s system for both the Texans and Ravens.
Erik Pears has blossomed during his five seasons in Buffalo, playing both right tackle and right guard for the Bills, showing the type of versatility that would give the Broncos all kinds of options along their soon-to-be-rebuilt offensive line.
B.J. Raji missed all of last season with a torn bicep, but he’s was once a Pro Bowl nose tackle with the Packers, a player that would do a nice job of manning that position in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme.
And Brandon Meriweather was once a very productive safety in New England, earning back-to-back trips to the Pro Bowl during his final two seasons with the Patriots; but after languishing in Chicago and D.C. for four years, he’s available to replace Rahim Moore.
Granted, none of those names will get anyone too excited; they won’t cause ticket prices to soar on StubHub for Broncos home games. But they are exactly the types of players that Denver should be looking to add.
Every team needs its share of grinders – players who show up every day with their proverbial lunch pail in tow, more concerned with going to work than being stars. These are the guys who don’t cavalierly let playoff opportunities pass by; they appreciate the moment and try to seize it. They don’t have handlers to help them make their rounds on Radio Row; their only ticket to the Super Bowl comes if they play in the game.
These are the types of players that pushed the 1997 and ’98 Broncos over the top. That team was loaded with stars, including three future Hall of Famers, but they needed some lesser-known players to become truly great. It was a group of unheralded free agents who brought a certain work ethic to the team and answered the bell at big moments.
Some of the team’s biggest contributors during that historic two-year stretch weren’t ballyhooed additions. Nobody interrupted regularly scheduled programming to announce the signing of Bubby Brister, Ray Crockett, Darrien Gordon, Howard Griffith, Tony Jones, Mike Lodish, Ed McCaffrey, Bill Romanowski, Mark Schlereth, Harry Swayne or Alfred Williams. And even Denver’s most high-profile free agent, Neil Smith, was seen as a player without much left in the tank.
In hindsight, those signings were phenomenal, adding guys who blossomed into stars and became key role players to the Broncos roster. But at the time, nobody suggested that they were anything special; they certainly weren’t seen as difference makers.
Those types of accolades are reserved for players who help teams shine when it doesn’t matter, headline-making stars who look good on paper in March. But when games actually start being played, their impact becomes underwhelming.
The reality is that this year’s big-name free-agent signings are most likely the players who will be cut prior to the 2017 season in order to generate salary cap space; they are short-term fixes that will soon prove to be bad investments not worthy of huge money. And that’s why Denver needs to steer clear of them.
It’s not about winning the offseason; it’s about building a team. The Broncos already have their stars; now they need they unheralded difference makers.
