ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Before free agency officially opens around the NFL at 4 p.m. ET Wednesday, there is a two-day negotiating window that opens Monday.

Players and teams can’t sign contracts in that preliminary window, but it is a formal chance for a player and his representatives to see what the market is for the player’s services.

So, here’s the last of five one-a-day looks at where things stand with the Denver Broncos’ most prominent free agents.

David Bruton Jr. was a big contributor for the Broncos on both defense and special teams in 2015. AP Photo/David Richard

Today: David Bruton Jr.

Status report: When tackle Ryan Clady went to injured reserve last spring with a season-ending knee injury, Bruton became the longest-tenured Bronco on the roster, having been in the team’s 2009 draft class. Bruton re-signed with the Broncos in 2013 -- three years for $4.5 million -- but that time he was largely a special-teams player only. This time, however, Bruton is poised for free agency coming off a season when he was not only the team’s special teams captain, but played 482 snaps (43.8 percent of the total) for the league’s No. 1 defense. It the most playing time of his Broncos’ tenure in the team’s defense and he enters free agency looking to be a starter, either in Denver or with someone else.

The resume: The first of two fourth-round picks the Broncos made in the ’09 draft, Bruton has been the do-everything guy on special teams -- he has been the special teams captain in each of the last three seasons -- as well as a steadying force in the locker room. He has also answered the call when needed on defense. Last season he played regularly in the team’s specialty packages and also saw time when T.J. Ward missed the season opener because of a one-game suspension and later in the year when Ward missed time with an ankle injury.

The Broncos’ position: Bruton is a worry-free player who has consistently kept himself ready to play (on the practice field and in the meeting room) when he’s been needed for several different defensive coordinators. Of course the Broncos would want to keep him, but their salary-cap space is limited with high-profile deals for linebacker Von Miller and quarterback Brock Osweiler under construction. So, with Bruton having told team officials he wants an opportunity for more playing time than the team could offer him, the market will beckon for Bruton.

Bruton’s position: Essentially, now is the time. His value as a defensive player was never showcased any better previously in his career than it was in the league’s best defense this past season. He’s active off the field, can play on any special-teams unit a team has and believes he's shown his value in a defense. And after seven seasons in the league this could be his last, best chance at free agency, so he wants to do as well as he can.

The bottom line: Broncos executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway has consistently said the sign of the team’s overall talent level will always be the number “tough decisions’’ the team has to make every offseason. Well, the Super Bowl champion has plenty of tough decisions to make in free agency as well as in the draft with Bruton one of the toughest. He has been a quality player and a quality person for the team, but he is simply looking for more playing time and will be able to get more money than the Broncos can offer.