The Broncos have until Monday to finalize contract extensions with their 15 players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents. Starting on March 16, those players will be eligible to begin negotiating with other teams. On March 18, they will officially become free agents.
Denver has only shown strong interest in bringing back one of their own free agents — safety Justin Simmons. If the Broncos can not reach a multi-year extension with Simmons before Monday, the team will place a one-year franchise tag on him.
It appears that Denver will let the rest of its free agents — including defensive end Derek Wolfe — test the free agency market.
“[The Broncos] talked to my agent at the Combine . . . it looks like they’re going to let me hit free agency, see what the market is,” Wolfe said on KOA Radio on Tuesday, via DNVR’s Andrew Mason. “It’s a nice way of saying, ‘We like you; we love you, but not for that kind of money.’”
That doesn’t mean Denver has no interest in bringing Wolfe back. Broncos general manager John Elway likely wants to see what kind of contract other teams are willing to offer the 30-year-old defensive lineman.
If Wolfe doesn’t have a strong market, perhaps Elway will return to the negotiating table and get a deal done. We’ll find out next week.
