Broncos surpass $ 17m cap through 2021 cap but George Paton can increase space with these moves

Love or hate the way John Elway handled Broncos staff decisions, one thing he did right was use the ceiling rolling rules.

Over the past three years, Elway’s cap decisions have exceeded $ 8 million, nearly $ 15 million, and this year $ 17.8 million over next year’s salary cap. And this year, that number is incredibly large because, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a significant reduction in the upcoming cap for the 2021 season.

This year’s cap was $ 198.2 million, and next season’s cap could be as low as $ 175 million, although it may be higher than agreed to on the salary floor.

So, according to Spotrac, the Broncos currently have $ 16.8 million in cap space thanks to this rollover. That is, if you only count the top 51 contracts on the team, which are the ones that end up counting against the cap because they come after the cuts.

That $ 16.8 million in ceiling space is decent, landing Denver in 13th place, with the Jacksonville Jaguars leading the way with $ 74.5 million in space. Of course, the Jags have been horrible this year and others – like the New York Jets with $ 65 million – are high end, with more competitive teams having a lot less money to work on.

Comes George Paton, the new Broncos general manager tasked with turning a roster of players forever missing the playoffs into a team worthy of being back in the postseason tournament.

Defensively, the Broncos are pretty well built. There’s Bradley Chubb on one side of the line – a young pass rusher star – the safety of superstar Justin Simmons in the back, with Bryce Callahan, Kareem Jackson, Von Miller and more. Offensively, the Broncos have playmakers, but aside from wide star Courtland Sutton and tall Phillip Lindsay, Denver’s offense is littered with youngsters still looking to reach their potential.

And the team needs more talent overall, which also shows in their struggling special teams.

The good news for Paton and the Broncos is: Now is the perfect time for a new GM.

Two of the team’s costliest players, Miller and Simmons, could be retained or let go. Simmons is already an unrestricted free agent, as Denver tagged him and paid him $ 11.4 million last year. Does Paton want to keep Simmons – a top 5 in safety – on the squad?

“We’re not going to let our good young players go,” Paton told the media on Tuesday during his introduction. So it looks like the Broncos will try to keep him.

Spotrac says its market value is $ 15.4 million per year, which would be almost the entire team’s salary cap (before other moves, we’ll get to that in a second). As for Miller, he owes $ 22.25 for 2021, the final year of his contract, but could be reduced. Cutting it would mean a hit of $ 4.2 million in dead cap terms, but would save the team around $ 15 million.

Miller is arguably the greatest defenseman in Denver Broncos history. He was the 2011 Defensive Rookie of the Year, he’s the team’s all-time leader in the sacks and he’s been the Super Bowl 50 MVP. have you done for me lately ”and Paton is not Elway.

Elway was steadfastly loyal to his draft picks (Miller was his first), and Miller may not be as willing to work on a restructuring with Paton as he might have been with Elway.

Then come the easiest decisions for Paton. Jurrell Casey and AJ Bouye were traded for the last offseason and the two veterans were a disappointment in Denver. Casey was injured earlier this year and so was Bouye before also being hit with a 6-game suspension which will bleed until 2021.

Cutting those two would be penalty-free, saving the Broncos $ 24.2 million. Nick Vannett, the tight end who did very little in 2020, could also be cut for a savings of $ 3.6 million.

So, to recap. The Broncos could: Save $ 15 million by cutting Miller, save $ 12.3 million by cutting Casey, and save $ 11.9 million by freeing Bouye and $ 3.6 million for Vannett. Add that to the $ 16.8 they already have, and it’s $ 59.6 million in the ceiling space.

Then Paton can turn around and sign Simmons to a massive deal, sign Lindsay again, and still have $ 35-40 million to use on other players of his choosing.

Of course, there are plenty of other Broncos free agents to look out for as well. (We’ve ranked them here.) Shelby Harris, Tim Patrick, and Alexander Johnson are all seemingly straightforward, but Paton will be tasked with evaluating them all and making some tough decisions.