The first day of legal tampering is underway and the Denver Broncos’ new GM, George Paton, is on the move. After rehiring striker Shelby Harris and signing cornerback Ronald Darby in lucrative deals, the Broncos decided they needed to make room for not exercising the option in the 12th year veteran’s contract, safety Kareem Jackson.
By not exercising Jackson’s option, the Broncos created $ 10 million in limit savings at the cost of $ 2.8 million in dead limits. By Mike Klis, the Broncos approached Jackson with a restructuring before choosing to refuse his option, but in the end, the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on the restructuring of the contract.
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The end result is Jackson going to the open free agency market and what remains is a huge hole in front of the newly marked security star Justin Simmons. After retaining Harris and signing with Darby on the first day of legal tampering, the Broncos solidified all of its holes in the immediately pressing squad towards the 2021 season.
Although Paton and Broncos are still looking to add a spare quarterback, depth in the offensive tackle, athleticism in the off-ball linebacker position and maybe even another cornerback, the team really didn’t have any crushing holes in the roster that could have limited their flexibility when they reached the draft of the NFL in April.
That has now changed with Jackson’s departure, as the options currently in the squad other than Simmons should not be seen as quality for NFL beginners. After using the exclusive rights offer on Trey Marshall, as well as keeping PJ Locke and Chris Cooper, the Broncos have depth options in safety, but if any of the above starts at Week 1, the Broncos’ secondary will be in a position difficult.
With John Johnson III being hired by the Cleveland Browns and Jalen Mills being hired by the New England Patriots as the most notable security guards to be pulled out of the market on Day 1, the Broncos still have many options (and now an extra $ 10 million in cap) space) to look for a more economical option for the other team security option.
Names like Kenny Vaccaro, Keanu Neal, Desmond King and Anthony Harris (ex-Viking) may be possible. Furthermore, with no decision yet to be made on Von Miller, that extra $ 10 million could be the decisive value for the Broncos to maintain the Super Bowl 50 MVP in 2021.
After being supposedly very interested in the Los Angeles Rams rusher Leonard Floyd (a former acolyte of Vic Fangio in Chicago), Miller’s future in Denver is dark at best.
The Broncos did a good job on Day 1 as a free agency strengthening the holes in the roster on the defensive line and in the cornerback. However, not exercising Jackson’s option opens a new hole in the list that will have to be solved by Paton and the Broncos before the start of the 2021 season.
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