Top 10 Broncos Moves this Offseason

What a busy offseason for the Broncos – busy enough to rank the Top 10 moves we’ve made and still leave out over half of said moves. Since our season ended on New Years Eve, we’ve seen:

• 7 of our 2006 starters depart
• 3 other players on our roster have left as well
• signings of 12 free agents
• trades for 2 defensive gamechangers
• the drafting of 4 linemen
• numerous coaching changes
• the addition of some potential stars through 7 or so undrafted rookie free agent signings.

That’s a helluva lot of moves for one offseason to say the least, and through it all the Broncos are still in the hunt for the Super Bowl. I rank the moves here.

The Broncos made it clear: The Snake wasn’t in our future plans. Photo Courtesy

10) Trading Away Jake Plummer

I will be a Jake Plummer fan to my grave. I know I’m unique in that facet of Broncos fans, but Plummer won us a ton of games and I’ll never forget that, despite all the interceptions and less-than-stellar playoff performances. Hell, one of my first Top Tens for this blog was Top 10 Reasons You Must Love Jake Plummer. However, we traded up and up in the 2006 draft a year ago to move for Jay Cutler, and after giving him the starting job in Week 13, something had to happen with Plummer and his nearly $8 million contract. Trading him away to the Bucs gave us a bunch of that money back, and now we don’t have any sort of controversy at the quarterback position. It’s now Cutler’s job to lose, giving us a feeling of security we haven’t had since Ole #7 donned the orange and blue.

9) Drafting Jarvis Moss

In the long term I expect this move to potentially be better than any of our other draft picks, but I don’t expect the impact from him this year. While I know Jim Bates can work wonders with a defensive lineman, I’ve always had the impression of Jarvis Moss as an athletically gifted, if not cliche freak of nature with huge potential if molded the right way. In 2007 I’ll be happy to see him register 2 sacks – seriously. But I anticipate him becoming one of the most gifted DEs in the league behind the tutelage of Jim Bates.

8) Trading Away George Foster and Tatum Bell

Cutting the fat in a big way, Mike Shanahan cleaned out his dog house when he traded away Tatum Bell and George Foster, both who found themselves on the bench throughout the course of our disappointing 2006 campaign. Both were high round draft picks for the Broncos in the past 5 years, but they weren’t coming along like Denver had hoped and ultimately found themselves on Shanny’s bad side. The former Pro Bowler whom we received in return just might show up later in this list…

7) Drafting Tim Crowder

Here’s the draftee I feel could most likely start for us this year, say in the second half of the season (when we’re already 8-1 naturally). Texas’ Tim Crowder, or T-Crow as I like to call him, was a productive pass rusher who could also play the run well. While perhaps not as naturally or athletically gifted as first rounder Jarvis Moss, T-Crow will make the bigger impact this year. Seeing as we’re stacked pretty much all around, this is the year to make a run, and the presence of T-Crow in the lineup will likely make a big difference in a positive way.

6) Bringing in Linebacker Depth

The cutting of Al Wilson will not make this list. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most significant departure in Broncos history since John Elway called it a career after Super Bowl XXXIII. But we addressed the concerns to some degree with the free agent signings of Warrick Holdman and D.D. Lewis a few days before the draft. With D.J. Williams moving to the middle, it opens things up for a 3-way competition at the strong side spot with Nate Webster. Don’t forget that Ian Gold has experience playing both sides – whichever system fits best between all players involved will be what Bates and Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs Bob Slowik decide.

5) Adding Girth to our DTs

In the past two or three weeks, the Broncos have decided they weren’t done adding to the roster and brought in veteran journeyman defensive tackle Sam Adams. Shortly thereafter we traded for young, beefy Jimmy Kennedy with a late round pick. Just like Jim Bates likes it, our defensive tackle weight has gained an overall average of 8 lbs., with only one of our top-tier DTs (incumbent Gerard Warren) falling below the 300 lb. mark. Try getting seven touchdowns on us now, Ladainian Tomlinson.

4) Drafting Marcus Thomas

I’m done sitting on the fence with this once. While I’ve always loved the move, I’ve also always made sure to note the obvious concern with his character issues and the like. Well, *knock on wood*, I’m so much more hyped about the possibilities over what he could become that I’m not even all that concerned anymore. Marcus Thomas is, athletically, a Top 5 overall pick (this 300 lb. beast can do BACK FLIPS) who fell all the way to the 4th round. Much like 4th rounder Elvis Dumervil last year, I expect Thomas to earn his bread and butter on passing downs in sure fire pass rushing situations. The value on day 2 is insane if he can just keep his character issues together and stay away from the weed.

3) Signing Daniel Graham

Our biggest financial commitment went to this Colorado native, who excels at run blocking and has apparently always been the apple of Shanahan’s eye. Daniel Graham is a playmaker at the tight end position in his willingness to to get dirty and his ability to make big plays. Combined with Tony Scheffler, I expect Cutler to have a solid passing option whenever we line up in a two tight end set.

2) Signing Travis Henry

We haven’t had what I would call a star at the runningback position since Clinton Portis a few years ago. While Mike Anderson, personally one of my favorite underrated Broncos, filled in admirably in 2005, Tatum Bell did not, ande it became clear that we again needed a playmaker at the runningback position. Enter Travis Henry and his fat contract, a virtual lock to gain 1,500 yards this coming season. And assuming we break the trend of cutting our lead rusher this year (which I expect we will), our running game should be the best it’s been in several years.

The trade for Dre Bly, and signing him long term after, is one of the most significant moves this offseason leaguewide. Photo Courtesy

1) Trading for Dre Bly

All the other moves were great, but the slam dunk this offseason has to be the blockbuster trade for Dre Bly. On paper, it forms perhaps the greatest cornerback tandem in NFL history. Man, that sounds good. “The greatest cornerback tandem in NFL history.” We’re built, and bound, to beat the Colts this year (FINALLY!), and good luck to just about any quarterback throwing at anyone when they face the Broncos.

Perhaps the busiest offseason in Broncos history is nearing an end, and the moves have involved the draft, free agency, and more than one trade as we prepare for our 2007 campaign. Overall the Broncos are definitely in the running for the “Best Offseason” BroncoTalk Offseason Award, with all the moves hopefully adding up to a third Super Bowl title.