The Denver Broncos have not been afraid of making some splash acquisitions recently. In 2022, they pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks to land quarterback Russell Wilson. There’s likely some buyer’s remorse there now, given how poorly things went last year as Wilson had the least productive season of his career.
Looking to turn that around, Denver was aggressive once again making a splash. They completed a trade with the New Orleans Saints to acquire head coach Sean Payton, who stepped down from coaching the Saints during the 2022 offseason.
There is plenty of work for Payton to do as the one season with Nathaniel Hackett leading the way was a disaster. The offense was last in points scored and 21st in yardage, while on the opposite side of the ball, the defense was 14th in points and seventh in yardage.
It is fair to say that there were certainly a few holes that needed patching up on the roster. Denver wasted no time throwing money around in free agency, agreeing to some very large contracts.
They spent $139.5 million on offensive line upgrades, landing Ben Powers and Mike McGlinchey. Defensive end Zach Allen landed a three-year, $47.75 million deal. Running back Samaje Perine and quarterback Jarrett Stidham both agreed to multi-year deals as well.
While all of them are solid players and will fill needs, the Broncos, in the first season with Payton at the helm, are trending toward a dangerous path that his Saints teams often took. Spending big and kicking the money down the line, which has put the Saints in some ugly salary cap positions, is what the Broncos are risking.
For that reason, it is why they are considered losers by some people in free agency thus far this year. There is no denying that they upgraded the talent and should win more games, but at what price?
Lacking draft capital from trades made, the Broncos have to address needs in free agency. That is a dangerous game to play, as you are almost always paying more for what a player has accomplished already than what they will do in the future. Given how much money they spent this offseason, they could be in salary cap hell next offseason if things don’t pan out accordingly.
