Denver Broncos Free Agency and Draft Needs

The Denver Broncos were a long shot drive and a blown coverage away from making a run at the Lombardi trophy.

Don't get too upset though. There are not only plenty of opportunity to plug some holes on both offense and defense through the draft but the Bronco's will only be a better all around team.

How is this possible? They we're ridiculously good last year but now they've had a full year to gel together.While the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers are improving I wouldn't be surprised to see the Bronco's win the division again. They may not win 13 games again this year but 11-12 games will do the trick. Remember, the Bronco's started off somewhat slow last year. I don't see that happening again.

Haters will complain and say the Broncos have the easiest schedule in the league. Well, that is complete BS. Strength of schedule based ratings don't apply to the year after. Every year, teams rise and fall and this year the Chargers and the Chiefs are both getting much better.

Let's just say that the division isn't going to be a cakewalk. The only team I haven't seen significant improvement is the Oakland Raiders. They haven't made significant improvement in 10 years. Andy Reid is a great coach, posting only 4 losing seasons in 14. I don't see him winning anything less than 7 games his first go round. Don't forget, he is the quarterback whisperer, somehow getting production out of players no one ever thought was there (Kevin Kolb, AJ Feely, Mike Vick and Jeff Garcia at 39 years old!).

Then there's the San Diego Chargers. Sure Phillip Rivers has looked bad the last 2 years but most have already forgotten just how good he was before that. He was considered elite in most experts eyes and made several deep runs into the playoffs. The Charger's have essentially gone all in with him, surrounding him with bright young offensive minds who will surely do everything they can to build talent around him. Ryan Mathews is a bust and it's probably time to move on but there's a good running back out there who can fill the void Tomlinson left several years ago.

Oh yeah. Lets not forget that AJ Smith is gone too, the GM who liberally traded or cut away players with yearly pro bowl potential (Antonio Cromartie, Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson, Drew Brees, Darren Sproles). To me the Chargers are a team on the rise.

This is also an extremely deep draft and free agency period, especially if a team needs secondary help, which the Bronco's do. Tracy Porter had a decent year but since this is a passing league it never hurts to have a deep corner unit with a couple potential starters as back ups. This is the year to find both a decent nickel back and an extra corner with starting potential who won't.

Ideally, it would be nice to take a shot at a corner like Sean Smith, Brent Grimes, Chris Houston or even Quentin Jammer. Sure, Jammer is older but he still has a few years of decent play left. Sean Smith is part of the new breed of corner in high demand. He's tall at 6'2, and long with 4.4 speed. While he doesn't pick off that many passes he deflects a ton. Under Jack Del Rio I could see Smith having his best year yet.

Ed Reed is floating around out there. Since the Bronco's are built to win now then signing him to a 2-3 year contract wouldn't be so bad. Ed Reed is one of the best of all time and should have at least3 more great to solid years left in the tank .

If not him then Kenny Vaccaro, from University of Texas, is supposed to be the next great safety. If worse comes to worse we can still stick with Raheem Moore. In all actuality he isn't that bad of a safety. The situation he blew it in was bad but lets not judge his whole career off one play.

In a passing league it's always good to have a nice stable full of pass rushing specialists. It's nice to have an outside linebacker that can do it all but there are plenty of guys out there that can only do just that. And hey, that's not so bad as long as you don't overpay for them.

The biggest name this year is Cliff Avril, who I don't think is worth $10 million a year that he wants. Also, the Bronco's have asked Elvis Dummervil to take a pay cut and he isn't budging. Dumerville is good at rushing the passer but is a liability in the run game. That combo isn't worth $12 million a year so it's looking like the Bronco's are going to have to find another to take his place.

The ironic name that keeps popping up is Dwight Freeney. I think it's ironic because in my eyes Elvis Dumervil has always been somewhat of a poor mans Dwight Freeney. Freeney is a little taller, heavier, quicker and faster and it just so happens he is available for the first time in his career. At 33 most people would be quick to point to last years totals and think of him as washed up. Well, Pass rushers, especially in conditional roles, can easily extend their career well into their late 30's. It sounds like Dwight is motivated to show that he still has something left in his tank after the Colts cut him and he would also be reunited with Peyton Manning.

He would also cost about 1/2 of what Dumervil is asking for and will arguably turn in the same type of production or better than the 20 sacks Elvis has put up. Dumerville is making a follish mistake. This years draft is filled with pass rushing defensive ends in every round and free agency has a handful of them as well.

Once teams spend the money for those players there really won't be a market for a $12 million one dimensional defensive end who's sacks have gone down ever since he signed the 6/yr. $65 million contract when McDaniels was still the head coach.

There are plenty of free agent running backs available as well. No real stars but Denver's offense doesn't need a star running back. They just need a back who can block on passing downs, catch 30-40 balls out of the back field and pick up some tough yardage here and there.

Steven Jackson from the Rams is the perfect guy for the job. He's 30 but it is extremely unrealistic to think that he doesn't at least have 2-3 years left and at least 1 more years playing at a high level. If Steven Jackson is paired up with Manning I could easily see him having 1200 yards rushing and another 400 yards receiving, as if suddenly rejuvenated playing in a high octane efficient offensive system.

Most important of all Steven Jackson can pass block. He's big too at 6'2 about 235lbs with the strength of an ox. That's really the best fit and considering he's been on a losing team his whole career playing on a team so close to winning the super bowl, with a legitimate shot of doing so the next 3 years, will be a very attractive situation.

It never hurts to add depth at positions. I don't think it would be such a bad idea bringing in a veteran QB to push Brock Osweiler. Sure Brock is young but the last thing you want is for him to get lazy and complacent.

Well, that pretty much wraps it up Bronco's nation. It's a very exciting off season for Bronco's fans all over the world. The next 3 years will be our best shot at winning another super bowl. Even if they don't the John Elway seems to be doing an excellent job of managing the team and has a pretty good dynamic going with John Fox. I expect the Bronco's to become as stable as franchises such as the Steelers, Patriots, the recent Atlanta Falcons, and the Eagles under Andy Reid and stay competitive for the next 10 years.