Are the Broncos up to something?
According to Spotrac, a site that provides information on contracts, the Denver Broncos have converted $10.2 million dollars of edge rusher Jonathon Cooper’s salary into a signing bonus. This move will clear $8.2 million dollars in cap space right now and give Cooper a $5.78 million dollar cap hit for this season.
This is the second contract restructure the Broncos have done this offseason. Before the start of free agency, the Broncos cleared about $11 million dollars in cap space by restructuring guard Quinn Meinerz’s contract. Now, they get another $8.2 million from Cooper’s contract.
So, why are the Broncos clearing up some cap space? According to Spotrac, the Denver Broncos currently have roughly $21 or $22 million, but do not have some of the league minimum contracts the Broncos signed on Thursday. Either way, the Broncos are currently in a good place cap-wise, so what are they planning to do?
The Broncos are the only team in the NFL not to sign an external free agent. However, they have been busy re-signing their own players. The only notable free agent left is running back Jaleel McLaughlin, and re-signing him wouldn’t require the Broncos to do a restructure, so they could be on the verge of doing something.
If we look at the free agent market, the notable names available are wide receiver Jauan Jennings and tight ends David Njoku and Dallas Goedert (he hasn’t officially been released yet). Veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs is also available and nearly signed with the Broncos last year, but he has an upcoming court date and could be suspended by the NFL. So, I don’t think he is in play.
Could they be looking at the trade market? Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown has been rumored, but he carries a large cap hit, and the Broncos would need to clear more cap space than that. Maybe a trade we don’t see coming?
It could also be the less fun option and be nothing exciting at all. The Broncos haven’t made any splash moves as of yet and have focused on re-signing their free agents. They like their roster, and a lot of the big-name free agents are already signed. So, we’ll have to see what they have cooking, and if anything happens, we’ll have it covered here on Mile High Report.
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