Thread: Chris Harris: John Elway will make offseason splashes

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Apparently, Broncos general manager John Elway has conditioned his players to get excited about free agency.

Speaking to reporters this week, Broncos cornerback Chris Harris was answering a question about his transition into the offseason when he added this about Elway: "After the season hopefully everything starts to get rolling. Once free agency comes you know Elway is going to make some splashes. I'm excited to see who he brings as a part of the team."

When asked if he almost had to expect Elway to do something big by now, Harris laughed.

"Oh yeah, automatic splash," he said. "For sure."

While last offseason was relatively quiet by Elway standards, he still re-signed the team's best player, Von Miller, to a six-year, $114.5 million deal. The Broncos let Brock Osweiler, Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan walk but did manage to sign one of the top-20 free agents on the board: former Seahawks offensive tackle Russell Okung.

This will be an interesting offseason for the Broncos, who have been linked to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, even though NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport poured some cold water on that storyline a few weeks ago. As is often the case this time of year, the list of potential free agents reads like a Pro Bowl squad, though many will be re-signed.

Denver will have a healthy amount of space given their relatively low salary-cap number spent on quarterbacks ($2,781,902 between Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch), which allows new head coach Vance Joseph some room to bring in players familiar with his system. Will that include another quarterback for offensive coordinator Mike McCoy? That would certainly constitute a splash.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...eason-splashes

Can't wait!

It feels like a weird thing to look forward to, but we have relatively few big holes, and reportedly have a lot of cap space to fill them. We can't really know our draft priorities before knowing how well that succeeds. Of course, we could create more holes in the interest of creating more cap space, and can't know which big names will be re-signed before they hit the open market, but all that also directly bears on everyone ELSES draft priorities (and thus what'll be available at our picks.)

*shrugs* It's the end of January: If you're not playing, you're planning. But for all the doom, gloom and blame-laying this year, we're still in pretty good shape.

Originally Posted by Joel

But for all the doom, gloom and blame-laying this year, we're still in pretty good shape.

First positive comment I have ever read from you regarding the Broncos

Tony-Romo :clap:clap: :clap:clap:clap:
Tony-Romo :clap:clap: :clap:clap:clap:
Tony-Romo :clap:clap: :clap:clap:clap:

I absolutely hate it when new HC's have to bring "their players", I rarely works out well for the Broncos.

Vance Joseph doesn't have a system for players to be "familiar" with. He's just supposed to be the "Leader of Men", if it ain't broke don't break it.

Originally Posted by Jaded

Vance Joseph doesn't have a system for players to be "familiar" with. He's just supposed to be the "Leader of Men", if it ain't broke don't break it.

I thought you wanted a defensive tackle

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

I thought you wanted a defensive tackle

I actually didn't read the article, I'm just bitchy.

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

Tony-Romo :clap:clap: :clap:clap:clap:
Tony-Romo :clap:clap: :clap:clap:clap:
Tony-Romo :clap:clap: :clap:clap:clap:

lol. . . i'm starting to think it might happen, if the cowballs can't trade him. . . and they probably can't, sooo. . .

i'm all for rolling those dice again, if the contract is right. . . you gotta be realistic about the guy's durability, though. . .

Originally Posted by dogfish

lol. . . i'm starting to think it might happen, if the cowballs can't trade him. . . and they probably can't, sooo. . .

i'm all for rolling those dice again, if the contract is right. . . you gotta be realistic about the guy's durability, though. . .

He will be cut.

If Romo is available we should get him. He's still a really good player at this game. If we pick one TR, one good OL, patch up the OL, we're a top three team going into the season.

Originally Posted by Jaded

I absolutely hate it when new HC's have to bring "their players", I rarely works out well for the Broncos.

Vance Joseph doesn't have a system for players to be "familiar" with. He's just supposed to be the "Leader of Men", if it ain't broke don't break it.

What about when assistants do it (they have "input," remember?)

PLAYER (22)	POS.	AGE	FROM	TO	2016 AAV	STATUS	MARKET VALUE
Luke Joeckel	G	25	JAC	TBD	$5,300,400	UFA	Market Value
T.J. Lang	G	29	GB	TBD	$5,200,000	UFA	Market Value
Chance Warmack	G	25	TEN	TBD	$3,041,663	UFA	-
Ron Leary	G	27	DAL	TBD	$2,553,000	UFA	Market Value
Chris Chester	G	34	ATL	TBD	$2,350,000	UFA	-
Kevin Zeitler	G	26	CIN	TBD	$1,886,050	UFA	Market Value
Austin Pasztor	G	26	CLE	TBD	$1,671,000	UFA	-
Tim Lelito	G	27	NO	TBD	$1,671,000	UFA	-
Ted Larsen	G	29	CHI	TBD	$1,650,000	UFA	-
Jermon Bushrod	G	32	MIA	TBD	$1,500,000	UFA	-

Originally Posted by dogfish

lol. . . i'm starting to think it might happen, if the cowballs can't trade him. . . and they probably can't, sooo. . .

i'm all for rolling those dice again, if the contract is right. . . you gotta be realistic about the guy's durability, though. . .

Cutting him would only save them ~$5M (I realize that's a lot of money to normal people, but the point is they eat nearly $20M of dead money even if they DO cut him.) Fact is, they were budgeted for that from the get go; it's only become an issue because 1) he got hurt again and 2) Dak looks like the real deal. But pretend they didn't have Dak: Would they still start Romo at $25M next year? You bet your butt they would, and if Dak gets hurt, they will.

They can't trade him unless they do some kind of sign 'n trade; his current 2017 salary is huge AND they'll want enough trade value to offset the $19½M of dead money they'll have for the money they guaranteed but haven't charged to their cap yet. No one's going to give up $35M worth of cap space, players and picks for a 37-year-old piñata with a long unbroken history of choking. ESPECIALLY not Elway.

Originally Posted by dogfish

lol. . . i'm starting to think it might happen, if the cowballs can't trade him. . . and they probably can't, sooo. . .

i'm all for rolling those dice again, if the contract is right. . . you gotta be realistic about the guy's durability, though. . .

I still don't think it will because the only way it happens is if Jones cuts him. Jones is going to want to get something out of him and if there is even ONE team desperate enough for a QB to offer something, they'll get him.

I don't see us taking on his contract as is, it's absurdly bad. So the only way it works is if he gets cut and then we can sign him on our own terms.

Originally Posted by Joel

Cutting him would only save them ~$5M (I realize that's a lot of money to normal people, but the point is they eat nearly $20M of dead money even if they DO cut him.) Fact is, they were budgeted for that from the get go; it's only become an issue because 1) he got hurt again and 2) Dak looks like the real deal. But pretend they didn't have Dak: Would they still start Romo at $25M next year? You bet your butt they would, and if Dak gets hurt, they will.

They can't trade him unless they do some kind of sign 'n trade; his current 2017 salary is huge AND they'll want enough trade value to offset the $19½M of dead money they'll have for the money they guaranteed but haven't charged to their cap yet. No one's going to give up $35M worth of cap space, players and picks for a 37-year-old piñata with a long unbroken history of choking. ESPECIALLY not Elway.

As dirty as it makes me feel to admit I agree with you, I do...There is zero reason for Jones to cut Romo. He either trades him or sits on him. It is not beneficial to the cowboys to cut him and we aren't going to eat that much cap space for another rental.

Cowboys will either find a good trade partner or have a very expensive backup for next season. The Romo situation is very similar to the DT situation...Fans around here really want to see him cut or traded, but no one is going to take on that contract and it doesn't offer enough cap savings to make it worth while to cut the player...