How did the Broncos not exceed the salary cap this off season?

The Denver Broncos have been subject to a lot of scrutiny about their over spending this offseason. People are wondering where this money is coming from and if it has hedged their future. I took a look at the contracts signed this offseason, and found that other than the Demarcus Ware contract, everything after the second or third year was a lot of fluff. Aqib Talib signed a six-year, $57 million contract that really only guarantees him $11.5 million. All of the contracts they hand down are to protect the team, if the player does not perform well, and if the relationship goes sour, they can remove the cancer.

Denver has approximately just over $4 million in cap space remaining which leaves them right where they need to be prior to the draft. They know that next year they will be needing to secure their top two pass catchers in wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and tight end Julius Thomas. Both of them will command top pay for their position. That is the reason they had to let go of Captain Reliable, wide receiver Eric Decker. The moves made this offseason not only place them in win-now mode, but allow them to grow into a profiting franchise for years to come. Likely there will be a drop off for year or two when Peyton retires, but what’s to say they won’t bounce back? They word these contracts to allow the team control of their assets and cut ties with minimal salary cap penalties after the second year. Not to mention, besides Ware, all the signings were on the right side of 30.

Again, because of the structure of the contracts, the Broncos can find money if the need of a free agent arises. Tight ends Joel Dressen and Jacob Tamme are set to make $3 million each this season. Both had limited roles last season and would save a lot of cap space by clearing them of the rosters. They provide great depth at the tight end position, but if the need for an extra $3 million for the cap presents itself, the Broncos can always cut ties with one of these back up pass catchers.

Sports-Kings Down and Distance – Davis Spaid ♠ @DavisSpaidNFL