Who will the Broncos sign? Who will they franchise? Those are the questions being asked, now that it’s that time of the year once again. Arnie Stapleton, who covers the Broncos for the Associated Press, joined Notaro & Big Dee on AM 1340 to discuss what Denver’s next moves could be.
In a perfect world, the ideal situation would be to re-sign Von Miller and save the franchise tag for Brock Osweiler or Malik Jackson, according to Stapleton. But we do not live in a perfect world and therefore the Broncos are going to have to use their franchise tag on Miller in order to, “buy them some more time,” says Stapleton. Yes, the deadline on July 15 could produce a deal for the Broncos, or maybe by surprise they can figure something out before then. If not, they’re going to have to weigh their options carefully when dealing with Miller and all the free agents.
Then there’s the question of Osweiler. What do the Broncos do with him?
“He’s more valuable to the Broncos than he is to anybody, but that doesn’t mean somebody won’t come in and blow him out of the water with an offer,” Stapleton stated.
Stapleton also reminded Notaro & Big Dee that Osweiler had four injuries – knee, shoulder, elbow and rib, all on the left side – in seven starts. At 6-foot-7, says Stapleton, Osweiler has to learn to protect himself and he didn’t do that. So for a team to pump “millions of dollars into a player year after year,” it scares and worries them a bit to see that player take hit after hit.
Big Dee mentioned that he “cringed” at the thought of franchising Osweiler, because doing so would force the Broncos to pay him $19 to $20 million a year. However, Stapleton felt that he could see that happening on a short-term deal for various reasons. Osweiler has been groomed under Manning for the last four years. He’s also been Elway’s guy since he drafted him, regardless of all the flack Elway received for it. And, in all honesty, Denver probably wouldn’t have hoisted a Lombardi Trophy if it wasn’t for Osweiler stepping in for seven games.
Big Dee followed up the possibility of franchising Osweiler by asking, what would happen if Osweiler was offered such a deal that he just couldn’t refuse? What then would the Broncos be faced with? With Manning presumably gone and no Osweiler, the Broncos are left with Trevor Siemian, “whose only NFL snap was a kneel down,” as Stapleton pointed out. What then? Well there’s Robert Griffin III on the open market, whom Stapleton thinks would be a project if signed by the Broncos. Big Dee also threw out Colin Kaepernick and Matt Stafford to see what Stapleton thought of them.
“I like both of those guys. I think Colin Kaepernick would be perfect in this offense. I think Stafford…the fact that they finished strong would make that a remote possibility.”
Then there’s the offensive line. The entire league pretty much struggled to add o-line parts in free agency last season. The same could be true this year, and it could be tough for the Broncos to draft a good offensive lineman since they have the last pick in the league. Stapleton said it’d be better for the Broncos to get their best men out of the draft. So if all the best o-line players are drafted, perhaps the Broncos would benefit more by drafting a defensive lineman – especially if they were to lose Malik Jackson.
There’s a ton of speculation going into this offseason and the Broncos are sure to make some big moves to put together the best possible team that they can. Notaro says it best by saying, “it’s all about creativity in this off season.”
Catch the full conversation between Arnie Stapleton, Renaud Notaro and Big Dee in the podcast below…
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