With just over a week left until Free agency frenzy begins, its time I post my first Mock Offseason. The Broncos are far from the best team in the NFL. With the departure of multiple key starters in free agency this year, this Broncos team, specifically the defense, is set to look a lot different in 2020. The following is a plan for what I think the Broncos should do while also keeping it restricted to moves that are realistic for the team to accomplish.

To start the off season, the Broncos have 57 million in cap space after trading for AJ Bouye and taking on a 13.5 million dollar cap hit for him.

Roster Cuts

Joe Flacco- This should come as a surprise to no one. Anyone who watched a game of Joe Flacco football in Denver knows that he was terrible. Hes old, carries a cap hit of 10 million and is no longer good at playing QB in the NFL. He is gone.

Jeff Heurman- This is one that some people disagree with, but The Giants under Pat Shurmur were in 11 personnel for 75% of their offensive plays in 2019. For those that don’t know 11 personnel is used to signify the amount of skill position players on the field. The numbers indicate the amount of RBs and TEs on the field respectively. This means that the Broncos are in for a whole lot more one tight end sets in 2020 with Pat Shurmur running the offense. Jeff Heurman’s cap hit of almost 4 million dollars in 2020, it doesn’t make sense to leave him on the roster when he wont see the field all that much playing behind Noah Fant.

Colby Wadman- This one is kind of a spite cut. It is a miracle to me that Tom Mcmahon is still the ST coach after years of terrible punter play and, up until 2019, terrible kick and punt return play. Somehow, the Broncos chose Wadman over Riley Dixon, who was top 10 in net average punt distance in 2019 with the Giants. Wadman was 27th in that category. He needs to leave and we should draft a punter this year.

These cuts put the broncos at 70m in cap space. Let’s spend.

Internal Free Agency

Justin Simmons- Franchise Tag- 12.7 million- It's no secret to anyone in the NFL that Simmons was one of the league's best safeties in 2019, and he received a 2nd team all pro selection to prove it. The Broncos have made it clear they will do anything in their power to keep Simmons on the team, and that includes the franchise tag. Simmons has already stated that he would play on the tag and that he expects to get tagged. John Elway in his tenure as the Broncos GM has shown a tendency to use the tag as a means to get a deal done, which is what he did with Von Miller and Demaryius Thomas. Simmons should be here for a while, but don’t be shocked when he gets tagged this season instead of signing a long term deal.

Casey Kreiter- $4,000,000/3 years- Kreiter was the first long snapper in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl in 2018. The Broncos should keep him.

De’vante Bausby- 2m/1 year- This is a bit of an odd signing. The Broncos should want Bausby back as he performed well in his limited time in 2019, but the rumor is they do not plan to place a tender on Bausby, who is a restricted FA. The only reason they wouldn’t want to sign him to a tender is if they think he can be signed for cheaper than the 2.144 million dollar price tag that comes with an original round tender. If it were up to me he would be on an original round tender.

Derek Wolfe- 30m/3 years/18m GTD- Wolfe is one of the last remaining players on the team with a SB 50 ring. Last year under Fangio he had a career year with 7 sacks before suffering a gruesome elbow injury in week 13 against the Chargers. He turned 30 in February of this year, meaning this is probably his last chance to get a decent contract. In a deep IDL FA class his age pushes him down the list a bit, with teammate Shelby Harris likely commanding a higher salary. 10 million a year is perfectly fair, and his yearning to stay in Denver means that a reunion is likely.

Jeremiah Attaochu- 7m/2 years/4m GTD- Depth signing. He looked promising filling in for bradley chubb alongside Malik Reed. He knows the system and would be worthwhile to keep around.

Will Parks- 22m/4 years/8m GTD- He might command more than this on the open market, but if the Broncos can get him back at or around this price I think it's a no brainer. With Vic Fangio stating that he wants to run more six DB sets in 2020, keeping around a talented young player who knows the system is vital.

Elijah Wilkinson- 2nd round tender- 3.3m- Depth on the offensive line is pretty difficult to find. There are rumors circulating that Wilkinson could be the starting RG in 2020, and it’s already a forgone conclusion that he gets the tender. Could be an original round tender, but to be safe I used the second.

Mike Purcell- 2nd Round Tender- 3.3m- Last year after getting thumped on the ground by Leonard Fournette Vic Fangio made a change on the defense. He gave Mike Purcell the starting NT spot. Since then the Broncos were a top tier unit defending the run. It would be wise of the Broncos to tender him.

Diontae Spencer, Trey Marshall, Jake Rodgers and Tim Patrick- ERFA tenders- 2.4m- All these signings are good depth for the roster, including a pretty talented return specialist. All should be back at a cheap price.

After retaining all these guys, 12 in total, The Broncos are down to 32m in cap space. We aren’t done yet.

External Free Agency

Prince Amukamara- 13m/2 years/7.5m GTD- This is about as telegraphed as you can get. Rumor is he wants to reunite with Vic, and the Broncos have a need for a CB of his caliber. I honestly give him a 95% chance of landing with the Broncos.

Michael Pierce- 18m/3 years/8m GTD- With Derek Wolfe coming back and a significant amount of money committed to the secondary, the Broncos might not have the cap to sign someone like DJ Reader. Nevertheless, There is still a need on the defensive line even with Wolfe and Purcell returning. Pierce is around the price range I think the Broncos will be looking at for IDL #2 in Free Agency this year.

Jason Peters- $16m/2 years/8m GTD- The Broncos need to move on from Garrett Bolles. The buzz around the combine was pretty damning in regards to Bolles’ status with the team. Word is that we have been scheming around him for years, which hamstrings the offense almost as bad as scheming around a bad QB, which the Broncos won’t have to do anymore. Peters is still a solid LT and would instantly be a leader in a very young locker room for the offense. This is a classic John Elway “win now” move and I would love it.

Nick Kwiatkowski- 14m/3 years/7m GTD- ILB is another thin position on the Broncos roster. Kwiatkowski would provide some much needed depth and has plenty of ties to Vic from his time with the Bears.

Now done with all signings, Denver is left with 10m in cap. a few more lower level roster casualties will likely free up 1-2 more million in cap, leaving enough for the draft.

Draft

This will be done using the mock draft machine at The Draft Network

10. Henry Ruggs III, WR Alabama- Dude is a future Superstar in the NFL and his value to an offense has potential to be on par with Tyreek Hill. He won’t be there at 15 and we give up a 3rd and 4th, and likely a third next year to make sure we get him.

46. Lloyd Cushenberry III, IOL LSU- This guy is a total steal at 46. He is a plug and play, day one starter at Center or right guard for the Broncos in 2020. No brainer here.

77. Matthew Peart, OT UConn- This is a good developmental pick to pair with the signing of Jason Peters. Give him a year or two with Munchak and he has the potential to be the starting LT in 2022 and beyond.

83. Antonio Gibson, RB Memphis- I don’t know if anyone else is as high on this guy as I am. I really think he can be the same type of weapon that Christian Mccaffrey is for the panthers. Dude is an electric play maker and a good pass catcher. He has 4.3 speed and it shows. He doesn’t have too much experience with the between the tackles part of RB, but ideally that’s not how he would be used. He would be used as a chess piece instead of the traditional RB position.

161. Devin Duvernay, WR Texas- Realistically, Duvernay won’t be here at 161. He ran a 4.39 at the combine and dropped only one pass his last year at Texas. He is a solid slot guy, and that's the only reason he will fall to day 2 or 3; slot guys get pushed down the draft board a lot.

6th Round. Braden Mann, P Texas A&M- So, the mock machine at TDN doesn’t have compensatory picks in yet, likely because they haven’t been made official. This pick is me imagining we package our three 7th rounders (two are comp picks) to move into the 6th and take our new punter. F*ck Colby Wadman, I want a new punter.

Projected Depth Chart for 2020

OFFENSE

QB: Drew Lock/Brett Rypien

RB: Phillip Lindsay/Antonio Gibson/Royce Freeman

FB: Manovich

WR1: Courtland Sutton/Tim Patrick

WR2: Henry Ruggs/Juwann Winfree

WR3: Devin Duvernay/ Daesean Hamilton

TE: Noah Fant/Troy Fumagaili/Andrew Beck

LT: Jason Peters

LG: Dalton Risner

C: Lloyd Cushenberry

RG: Elijah Wilkinson

RT: Ja'wuan James

OL Depth: Jake Rodgers/Garrett Bolles/Matthew Peart/Patrick Morris

DEFENSE

EDGE: Von Miller/Bradley Chubb/Jeremiah Attaochu/Malik Reed

IDL: Derek Wolfe/Michael Pierce/Mike Purcell/Dre’mont Jones/Demarcus Walker

ILB: Alexander Johnson/Todd Davis/Nick Kwiatkowski/Josey Jewell

CB: AJ Bouye/Bryce Callahan/Prince Amukamara/De’vante Bausby/Isaac Yiadom/Davontae Harris

FS: Justin Simmons/Trey Marshall

SS: Kareem Jackson/Will Parks

SPECIAL TEAMS

P: Braden Mann

K: Brandon Mcmanus

LS: Casey Kreiter

RS: Diontae Spencer