ORLANDO, Fla. -- Apparently, Broncos general manager John Elway has conditioned his players to get excited about free agency.
Speaking to reporters this week, Broncos cornerback Chris Harris was answering a question about his transition into the offseason when he added this about Elway: "After the season hopefully everything starts to get rolling. Once free agency comes you know Elway is going to make some splashes. I'm excited to see who he brings as a part of the team."
When asked if he almost had to expect Elway to do something big by now, Harris laughed.
"Oh yeah, automatic splash," he said. "For sure."
While last offseason was relatively quiet by Elway standards, he still re-signed the team's best player, Von Miller, to a six-year, $114.5 million deal. The Broncos let Brock Osweiler, Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan walk but did manage to sign one of the top-20 free agents on the board: former Seahawks offensive tackle Russell Okung.
This will be an interesting offseason for the Broncos, who have been linked to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, even though NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport poured some cold water on that storyline a few weeks ago. As is often the case this time of year, the list of potential free agents reads like a Pro Bowl squad, though many will be re-signed.
Denver will have a healthy amount of space given their relatively low salary-cap number spent on quarterbacks ($2,781,902 between Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch), which allows new head coach Vance Joseph some room to bring in players familiar with his system. Will that include another quarterback for offensive coordinator Mike McCoy? That would certainly constitute a splash.
