It was fun while it lasted, winning a Super Bowl and all, but the mood in the Denver Broncos’ organization has to be significantly more somber today after being raided like they were a small Chinese fishing village and the rest of the NFL was Genghis Khan. It was a bloodbath.
The Broncos lost three key players that they kind desperately needed back in order to contend for another title in 2016-17. The biggest hit was none other than their quarterback of the future, Brock Osweiler, who decided he had $18 million reasons to be the quarterback of some other team’s future, signing a four-year, $72 million contract with the Houston Texans with $37 million guaranteed. Denver tried to keep Osweiler up to the last minute, offering him $16 million a year to stay in the orange and blue.
With Brock Osweiler off to Houston, RGIII is on Broncos' list of replacement quarterbacks, per source. Could be visiting Denver.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2016
It turns out the opportunity to build his own legacy without the specter of two Super Bowl-winning Hall of Famers hanging over him sounded pretty good to Osweiler. That and more money.
Broncos general manager John Elway seemed to be taken aback by Osweiler’s choice.
“We’ve stayed true to our philosophy of building a team with players who want to be Denver Broncos and want to be here,” Elway said. “That’s been a successful approach for us. While we did offer a very competitive and fair long-term contract to Brock, we ultimately had to remain disciplined while continuing to assemble a roster that can compete for championships.”
https://twitter.com/MikeKlis/status/707701093795536896
A roster that currently has one quarterback under contract, Trevor Siemian, who has never thrown a pass in the NFL.
While Osweiler might hurt the most, losing defensive tackle Malik Jackson to the Jacksonville Jaguars and inside linebacker Danny Trevathan to the Chicago Bears may make the biggest hit on the Broncos’ Super Bowl-winning defense.
Jackson got an absolute monster contract from the Jaguars, five-years and $85 million with $42 million guaranteed. Those are quarterback numbers. Trevathan signed with his old head coach John Fox for four years, $28 million. The Broncos have no player in the wings behind these guys that can step in for them.
Giants go on spending spree
New head coach Ben McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese know the clock is ticking on their own potential third Super Bowl in a decade and have opened up the checkbook and used up all the ink in New York State on day one of free agency.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo got to raid the roster of the guy the then St. Louis Rams hired to replace him, nabbing cornerback Janoris Jenkins with a five-year, $62.5 million contract with $28.8 million guaranteed. Jenkins is now the seventh highest paid corner in the league.
Franchise-tagged Von Miller and Josh Norman must be taking notice of Giants’ deals with Olivier Vernon and Janoris Jenkins…
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2016
The Giants weren’t done there. The re-signed Jason Pierre-Paul, club hand and all, for another season, then added Miami Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon after the Dolphins dropped the transition tag Wednesday morning. Vernon’s contract was a real eye-opener as it’s also a five-year, $85 million contract with even more guaranteed money than Malik Jackson’s, $52.5 million. Right next to either JPP or Vernon, the Giants will line up defensive tackle Damon Harrison who they signed away from the New York Jets for five years and $46.25 million.
Rams keep three key players in the fold
While the Rams got hit with the loss of Jenkins and safety Rodney McLeod (who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles), they managed to keep two of their best defensive players on the team and wide receiver Brian Quick, who could finally be on his way to that break-out season he’s teased over the last few years.
The LA #Rams signed WR Brian Quick to a 1-year worth up to $3.75M, source said. He gets $1.5M fully guaranteed.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2016
On defense Mark Barron had offers from other teams to move back to safety, but he instead decided to stay with the Rams where he had the best season of his life playing outside linebacker. That’s just where they’ll keep him. Up front, Los Angeles basically decided to keep William Hayes over Chris Long, who they cut last month. Hayes has played a lot more snaps than Long over the last two seasons and has basically been a starting defensive end in their system.
Rams and Mark Barron reached agreement on new deal, per source. Barron off the market and to LA.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2016
Quick’s deal is just for one season but will pay him $3,75 million so it’s obvious the Rams feel whatever injury issues he dealt with over the last two seasons are behind him.
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