The Denver Broncos could potentially save some money against the salary cap this offseason by releasing three veteran players.
Of course, there is still the contract of Joe Flacco on the books and the decision on what to do with him remains to be seen. Will the team be able to talk him into sticking around as a veteran backup to Drew Lock, or will the Broncos cut ties and choose to eat over $13 million in dead money?
Though that sounds like a lose-lose situation to many, there are some moves the team can make to get some money back.
Recently, I have talked about pending free agents the team should move on from as well as free agents the team should re-sign. But in order to fully evaluate the roster, the team must also consider players that are not scheduled to become free agents.
The three players below are all guys that the Broncos could and probably should move on from due to a combination of lack of production as well as a way to get back some cap space.
All figures were taken from Over the Cap.
1. Ron Leary, guard
Dead money: $875,000
Cap savings: $8.5 million
Leary has a club option for the 2019 season and the Broncos choosing not to pick that up is a no-brainer.
The signing of the veteran offensive lineman seemed like a great move when it was made, but he has been a disappointment for the team.
Leary has yet to play in a full 16-game season for the Broncos and out of a possible 48 games, he has played in just 29 as various injuries have forced him to end multiple seasons on injured reserve.
2. Jeff Heuerman, tight end
Dead money: $500,000
Cap savings: $4 million
The Broncos seem to have found their top tight end of the future in Noah Fant, meaning that they don’t need a guy counting $4.5 million against the cap in 2020, particularly when he has been a non-factor his entire career.
Heuerman caught all of 14 passes in 2019 and for his career, he has 63 catches for 678 yards and five touchdowns. It wouldn’t be hard for the team to get that kind of production out of nearly anyone, so saving some $4 million makes plenty of sense.
3. Todd Davis, linebacker
Dead money: $1 million
Cap savings: $5 million
Davis led the Broncos with 134 total tackles last year and stepped up for a team needing someone to step up at the inside linebacker spot.
But the maturation of Alexander Johnson makes this a move the team is able to make now. Johnson was one of the best defensive players on the team in 2019 and with his arrow pointing up and with Josey Jewell still on the roster, the Broncos can move on from Davis and save some money in the process.
If the Broncos were to release all three of these players:
Total dead money: $2.375 million
Total cap savings: $17.5 million
