Wes Welker is one of the newest members of the Broncos. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
At the moment you are still probably a bit shell shocked from the gaggle of yesterday’s signings. Thus far the Denver Broncos have signed five new players and re-signed eight, that is thirteen salaries that weren’t counted when you were figuring out how much the team had left to spend in free agency. Of course there is still the issue of Elvis Dumervil, which will free up a few millions one way or another.
Just to recap here are the salaries for the newest (and renewed) Broncos:
| Player | Length | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Dominique Rodgers- | ||
| Cromartie | One year | $5 million |
| Terrance Knighton | Two years | $4.5 million |
| Stewart Bradley | One year | $1.1 million |
| Wes Welker | Two years | $12 million |
| Kevin Vickerson | Two years | $5 million |
| Louis Vasquez | Four years | $23.5 million |
| David Bruton | Three years | $4.5 million |
| Lance Ball | One year | $1.323 million |
| Britton Colquitt | One year | $1.323 million |
| Chris Clark | One year | $1.323 million |
| Mitch Unrein | One year | $555K |
| Tony Carter | One year | $555K |
| Ryan Clady | One year | $9.828 million |
Anyone else keeping a running tab? And will someone sign Ryan Clady to a long term deal already?
After the initial excitement sets, it is only a matter of time before fans begin to tergiversate — a peak at any of the recent statistics of the newest defensive additions to the team leaves something to be desired… To say the least.
Here are some of the basic statistics over the last two seasons for the six defensive free agent signings that Denver has made so far in 2013:
| Player | Total Tackles | Sacks | Int. | FF. | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominique Rodgers- | |||||
| Cromartie | 79 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 29 |
| Terrance Knighton | 61 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 29 |
| Stewart Bradley | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Kevin Vickerson | 44 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| David Bruton | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 |
| Mitch Unrein | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Tony Carter | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
Not quite that staggering numbers one would expect from some of those players based on the contracts they are receiving, especially Stewart Bradley. Granted Bradley is coming in to compete with two very young middle linebackers, contribute on special teams and he was an All Pro in 2008.
However, what the Broncos have done so far is nearly spent themselves out of free agency. Of course there will be moves to free up more cap space, but as I said these defensive moves have been questionable at best. There is still a whole lot of time left and quite a few home run hits available (one being retaining Dumervil at whatever price he will come down to) and I would fully expect the team to continue to pick and peck at middle to lower tier guys.
I just hope that they don’t forget that there are names like Ahmad Bradshaw, Richard Seymour, Nnamdi Asomughua, Ed Reed and Charles Woodson waiting for calls. Not to mention Darrelle Revis can be swapped out for a draft pick that would cost nearly the same amount as his salary would demand.
Yes, I understand that Wes Welker happened yesterday, but Denver paid Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie only a million dollars less. You know what? Forget it, if the Broncos are good enough for Welker, they’re good enough for me. Perhaps John Fox said it best when he said something along the lines of the fact that they have been doing this longer than we have.