Broncos have signed guard Louis Vasquez. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

The first free agent signing for the Denver Broncos of the 2013 Free Agency period stays true to the trend that the Broncos have followed thus far in the last three years under John Elway. That being low key moves that make sense and moves that hardly anyone had thought of.

Denver has signed guard Louis Vasquez to a four-year contract reportedly worth $23.5-million with $13-million guaranteed over the course of the first two season.

Vasquez will start immediately and could possibly mean the end for ailing veteran Chris Kuper, but the end does not mean that it will be an immediate end.

Much like the reports that the Broncos are willing to part with Elvis Dumervil due to the large amount of money due to him this season; Kuper is due $5.415-million in 2013, though $2.745 of that would count as dead money if he were cut this year. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

With Elvis Dumervil and his $12 million salary likely headed out of Denver, the Broncos are currently shopping for a replacement at defensive end.

It is widely expected that Dwight Freeney will land with the team, while Osi Umenyiora provides another option.  The team was also reportedly interested in Paul Kruger, who eventually landed in Cleveland to the tune of $40 million.

But aside from likely bringing in a free agent to replace Dumervil, the team is probably counting on a pair of defensive ends already on the roster to step up in 2013.  This summer, Robert Ayers and Jason Hunter will get a chance to earn more playing time.

Ayers has been a disappointment in Denver for most of his career, but he has improved against the run in recent seasons.  Meanwhile, Hunter missed all of last season with a triceps tear before quietly recording 82 tackles, 4.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and an interception in his last 14 starts (32 games) with the team.

Hunter (29) is a 6′-4″, 271-pound versatile defender that has played both defensive end and outside linebacker in his career.  The Broncos will likely increase his role on defense in 2013 if Dumervil does not return.

Quick hits from around the NFL…

The Broncos first signing was locking up offensive guard Louis Vasquez to a four-year, $23.5 million deal.  This is a curious signing because the team’s Week 1 starting guards in 2013—Chris Kuper and Zane Beadles—both received Pro Bowl recognition last season (as an alternate and reserve, respectively).

Denver’s second order of business was scheduling visits with free agent running back Rashard Mendenhall and cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.  The Broncos are also reportedly interested in Dwight Freeney, Osi Umenyiora, and Reggie Bush.

Meanwhile, quarterback Peyton Manning has passed his physical, making his 2013 and 2014 salaries ($20 million apiece) guaranteed.

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Denver doesn't have the number twenty-two jersey assaigned to anyone as of Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Update:  Bush has signed a four-year deal with the Lions.

There will be a lot of these types of posts, especially over the course of the rest of the week. Sorry I am not sorry; it is time for actual football news and let me be amongst the first to welcome you to NFL Free Agency 2013.

First, a rumor from early yesterday, in a tweet sent by Omar Kelly of the (see how they don’t capitalize the ‘the’, unless it is at the beginning of the sentence?) South Florida Sun-Sentinel; a plugged in full time NFL beat writer who focuses on the Miami Dolphins — specifically via the Miami Dolphins Blog. Kelly states that your Denver Broncos are the favorites to land the highly coveted free agent running back Reggie Bush, Kelly also included that the Arizona Cardinals (who are apparently jettisoning two of their running backs from 2012) and the Detroit Lions, who have been linked to Bush since it became apparent that Miami would allow him to walk, are also in the conversation:

Reggie Bush is competing with a few free agent tailbacks. But he’ll pick between Denver, Arizona and Detroit. I hear Denver is the leader.

— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) March 11, 2013

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We knew something would happen on the Elvis Dumervil front between now and Saturday, when his $12 million salary becomes guaranteed.  According to his agent, Dumervil would like to be released before the start of free agency:

Magid submitted a counterproposal, but it was more about a restructure than pay reduction. Given the considerable difference in opinion on Dumervil’s value, the pass-rushing defensive end is asking the team to release him before the free-agent market opens at 2 p.m. Tuesday, rather than wait until the Saturday deadline with his contract,” the Denver Post‘s Mike Klis wrote on Monday afternoon.

It’s hard to fault Dumervil’s request.  If the team is planning to release him on Saturday morning after replacing him in free agency, it would be in Dumervil’s best interest to hit the open market before teams use up their cap space on other defensive ends between Tuesday and this coming weekend.

The Broncos hold all the cards.  All Dumervil can do is await the team’s decision.

On Monday, cover voting kicked off for EA Sports’ popular NFL video game franchise, Madden NFL 25.

This year’s version of the game will be dubbed “25” because it is the 25th version of the game produced by EA, with former and current players going head-to-head in a bracket-style cover vote-off.  Fans can vote for the cover athletes on ESPN.com.

A pair of Denver Broncos are in the voting—No. 10 seed Terrell Davis is up against No. 7 seed Jim Kelly and No. 6 seed Von Miller is up against No. 11 seed Victor Cruz.  Washington’s Robert Griffin III, arguably the best quarterback to use in Madden, is the No. 1 seed.

Mixing “legends” with current stars in the voting is expected to be received well by fans across the league.  In years past, many fans have voted against their team’s representative in fear of the “Madden Curse.”

Because Davis, a former league MVP, Super Bowl MVP and 2K Club Member, is no longer in the league, his future with the Broncos cannot be cursed.  With that being the case, will you vote for him?

Before the Denver Broncos started cutting players on Monday, they re-signed one. Denver announced that safety David Bruton had been re-signed via a tweet from John Elway’s twitter account:

Thrilled we’ve agreed to terms on the re-signing of David Bruton to a 3-yr deal. One of NFL’s top special-teamers who adds depth at DB.

— John Elway (@johnelway) March 11, 2013

Bruton was a formidable force on special teams as Elway pointed out in his tweet, consistently inches from blocking a punt.

Hanie is the latest of the Broncos to be released (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Just after (now confirmed) rumors began to spread that the Denver Broncos released linebacker D.J. Williams, comes an official announcement from the team with an addition. Backup quarterback Caleb Hanie has also been released.

Hanie sat inactive for most of the season, which allowed the Broncos to keep $1-million of his contract due to a clause that stated that the quarterback needed to be active for a portion of the season to activate the escalator:

The #Broncos have released LB DJ Williams and QB Caleb Hanie: dbron.co/1nt.

— Denver Broncos (@Denver_Broncos) March 11, 2013

Cutting the former Colorado State Ram opens up $1.25-million in cap space for 2013.

UPDATE: The team has confirmed that both D.J. Williams and Caleb Hanie have been released.

Very early on this, but according to Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network the Denver Broncos have released linebacker D.J. Williams:

Source: #Broncos have released linebacker D.J. Williams.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2013

This is a move that has been anticipated for at least a few months, but the timing comes just 24 hours before Free Agency begins in 2013. Williams was due a $6-million base salary, carrying an $8.082-million cap figure. Cutting him will cost the Broncos $2.082-million in dead money.

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Does Danny Amendola remind you of anyone currently on the Broncos' roster? (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Quick, name the Denver Broncos current slot receiver? Yeah, I hope Brandon Stokley comes back too and I need not point out the obvious, but he will turn 37 years old in June. One thing that I want to plant into your head right now is that this season is Eric Decker’s last season on his contract — a contract that is worth a whopping $1.5-million or six-hundred thousand dollars more than Andre Caldwell is scheduled to make ($900,000) in 2013. If the Broncos have Decker in their long term plans, it would best to snatch him up now. Much like Ryan Clady last season, Decker’s price likely isn’t coming down and franchising wide receivers is not cheap.

I mentioned both Decker and Caldwell, whom coupled together plus Demaryius Thomas are the only receivers on the team that have accumulated any significant playing time on Denver’s roster. The next closest is the phenomenal Trindon Holliday who had scarce time at wide receiver to say the least (he did have two catches for 17 yards against the Carolina Panthers and a handful of plays on the field throughout the rest of the season).

Greg Orton and Gerell Robinson are both signed to future contracts; Orton came to the Broncos in 2011 and then came back in 2012 spending the entire season on the practice squad. Robinson and Caldwell’s situation is eerily similar to two former Denver receivers whom spent a large amount of time either on the Broncos’ practice squad or game day inactive list — Rod Smith and Brandon Lloyd. Robinson came over as an undrafted rookie (and college teammate of Brock Osweiler) in 2012.

Now what of the free agents? Wide receiver is arguably the most loaded spot in free agency this season and there are some incredible names that will become available in just a few short hours…

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