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Denver Native (Carol)
02-17-2012, 03:01 PM
The NFL Scouting Combine is just around the corner, but the Broncos front office is also hard at work preparing for the free agent market.

Free agency begins on March 13, and General Manager Brian Xanders said Denver has a plan on how to attack the signing period.

“We plan to be aggressive and smart at the same time and try to get some good signings in here, some valued signings that help contribute to wins,” Xanders said. “We also have to address signing our own unrestricted free agents, and we also have the free agency market. So we will have a plan for that. We have a long term vision, too.”

rest - http://blog.denverbroncos.com/denverbroncos/prepping-for-free-agency/

dogfish
02-17-2012, 03:04 PM
translation; they ain't spending big money to add name players. . . forget mario williams, and i'll forget tracy porter. . .

Ziggy
02-17-2012, 03:49 PM
People forget that the Broncos took a real run at Deangelo Williams and Brandon Mebane last year. Mebane would have been nice, but Deangelo was a huge flop after getting the big bucks. Instead we ended up with McGahee and Bunk, which turned out rather well for us at just a small portion of the price. Add in Dawkins, Fells, and Prater and EFX made some of the best value moves in FA last year.

With a defense being run by Fox and JDR that has 2 great young pass rushers on it along with a hall of fame corner, I'm guessing that the Broncos are an appealing destination for some defensive players. I think that they'll spend for the right player, just not any player like Shanny used to do. I'm onboard with the way it's gone down so far.

Prater will either get franchised or re-signed. I'm not sure about Bunk. I think it all depends on whether they want to go bigger at NT or not. As good as he is against the run, he's a 2 down player. You can't over pay for that and still build a great D in the long run. There are some very good options at that position in the draft.

I don't know what's going to happen with free agency, but I'm on the EFX bandwagon right now. It's going to be fun watching it unfold.

Superchop 7
02-17-2012, 04:11 PM
I do not have a problem with this, we need depth first.

dogfish
02-17-2012, 04:16 PM
there's no question we have holes all over. . . i wasn't necessarily criticizing. . .

should be interesting, at any rate. . . i'm most immediately concerned with what we're gonna do at DT and in the backfield. . .

pipes
02-17-2012, 04:49 PM
there's no question we have holes all over. . . i wasn't necessarily criticizing. . .

should be interesting, at any rate. . . i'm most immediately concerned with what we're gonna do at DT and in the backfield. . .

I agree...but I'd add both backfields.
Dawkins is old and suffered a significant injury.
Goodman is old and bad and suffers from a significant contract.
Moore struggled.
Vaughn struggled then got hurt.
Harris could be a flash in the pan.
Champ is another year older.
I love bacon.
Wait....I lost my train of thought.....

Superchop 7
02-17-2012, 04:57 PM
I agree...but I'd add both backfields.
Dawkins is old and suffered a significant injury.
Goodman is old and bad and suffers from a significant contract.
Moore struggled.
Vaughn struggled then got hurt.
Harris could be a flash in the pan.
Champ is another year older.
I love bacon.
Wait....I lost my train of thought.....
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Solid depth......no holes.

dogfish
02-17-2012, 05:20 PM
I agree...but I'd add both backfields.
Dawkins is old and suffered a significant injury.
Goodman is old and bad and suffers from a significant contract.
Moore struggled.
Vaughn struggled then got hurt.
Harris could be a flash in the pan.
Champ is another year older.
I love bacon.
Wait....I lost my train of thought.....

nah, totally agree-- the secondary's every bit as much a worry. . .

just goes to show how many holes we have. . . though, frankly, some other teams will probably be in the same boat with all the one-year deals that got signed around the league. . .

that's why we need to be active in free agency, even if we don't make any "big" signings. . . we only have so many draft picks, and you can't count on late rounders and UDFAs to fill more than a few limited roles. . .

re-signing some of our own pending FAs will be the first step-- and our first indication how they're going to approach the draft. . .

Ravage!!!
02-17-2012, 05:22 PM
I'm glad we aren't spending the big money on the big names. RARELY does a big name, FA signing, help a team. Just look at Philly.

dogfish
02-17-2012, 05:33 PM
I'm glad we aren't spending the big money on the big names. RARELY does a big name, FA signing, help a team. Just look at Philly.

it'll be interesting to see what happens with them this year. . . i thought paying asomugha so much was silly, especially as he's not an ideal scheme fit. . . but they do have a lot of talent. . . they came together pretty well at the end of the season. . . mudd's had a year to get the OL in shape, castillo's got a year under his belt as DC (and will certainly be replaced as the playcaller by a "consultant" if he struggles like last year-- reid's ass is on the line), and their personnel has had a year to adjust to the gap responsibilities of the wide nine. . . which doesn't make their linebackers better, but there is the draft. . . and they should have their receiving corps healthy, seemingly with a less-disgruntled desean jackson. . .

we'll see. . . more of an off-topic commentary on the eagles than anything relating to denver-- totally different circumstances, obviously. . . but i do think the book's not closed on the philly experiment just yet-- and it's going to be less convenient for people to use them as an example if they come out and beat the giants out for the division title, which that roster is capable of. . .

TheReverend
02-17-2012, 05:34 PM
It's the most wonderful time of the year

Lancane
02-17-2012, 07:41 PM
I'm glad we aren't spending the big money on the big names. RARELY does a big name, FA signing, help a team. Just look at Philly.

They're going to spend big money, it's just of question of how. And starting next year, they'll have no choice. Elway's already stated twice if not more that Denver will be spending a lot of money in the off-season, and our draft picks will be a very, very small percentage of that due to the rookie wage scale.

Does that mean that they are going to target top tier free agents? No, but I do believe we'll see a number of signings from the second tier that are still to us solid additions. We're so use to one or two from the second and a ton of third tier guys that it's rather nauseating, I think it will be somewhat different this year Rav...at least I hope so.

As you know I stated that Denver will likely focus on some free agents that have ties to the conference, team or coaches, such as the Hill signing. Don't be surprised if we see more of that, even pillaging our rivals.

Lancane
02-17-2012, 07:42 PM
It's the most wonderful time of the year

Next to Christmas! ;)

DenBronx
02-18-2012, 01:32 AM
I'm glad we aren't spending the big money on the big names. RARELY does a big name, FA signing, help a team. Just look at Philly.

We don't necessarily need BIG name FAs but we do need to look at ALOT of 2nd tier guys.

Example: We looked at Deangelo but it didnt make sense to pay over the top for him and instead we got McGahee, who yes was a BIG name FA at one time but we got "value" out of him because of his age/mileage. No, I'm not saying go after a bunch of over the hill type guys either. We just need to be smart about it and not just spend money on a bunch on scrubs like Shanahan did on a regular basis.

I'm impressed with EFX though. They are doing much better than I thought they would.

LTC Pain
02-20-2012, 04:28 PM
If EFX can get one of these CBs (Cortland Finnegan, Brent Grimes, Brandon Carr, Carlos Rogers, and/or Terrell Thomas), a backup QB and O-line depth in Free Agency then I will be happy. Everything else can be addressed via the draft, where DT and RB would be the priority.

Lancane
02-20-2012, 05:00 PM
The Chiefs signed Routt today to a three-year deal, Carr is expendable and Denver has a legit shot.

Ziggy
02-20-2012, 06:42 PM
The free agent market is deep with corners this year. The good ones come with a huge price tag though. That may be one position that the Broncos want to fill through the draft. I like Carr, Grimes, Marshall, Porter, Thomas, and Webb. Any of them would look in orange and blue.

TheReverend
02-21-2012, 09:16 AM
The free agent market is deep with corners this year. The good ones come with a huge price tag though. That may be one position that the Broncos want to fill through the draft. I like Carr, Grimes, Marshall, Porter, Thomas, and Webb. Any of them would look in orange and blue.

Keep in mind the depth should do a marginal job deflating their price tag a touch.

Supply and demand and all :)

Jsteve01
02-21-2012, 09:30 AM
That's exactly right rev. Every year there are the top tier guys who end up signing one or two year deals on the cheap because of an over abundance at their position.