It was a disappointing day one of free agency for the Denver Broncos

The free agency period in the NFL opened on Monday. Well, it was technically just the “legal tampering” period that started, but teams were able to agree to new contracts with players that won’t officially kick in until the new league year begins on Wednesday.

The Denver Broncos jumped in on the action and made several moves on Monday. These moves help shape the roster and they give us clues as to what this team wants to build for the 2021 season and beyond. It was a big day to be sure, and on the first day, I feel the team has made some early mistakes in the process.

Here are my thoughts from what I consider a disappointing day for the Broncos.

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Best Move of the Day

The Broncos finally paid defensive end Shelby Harris. He was signed to a three-year contract worth $27 million to stay with the team.

Harris hit free agency last year, but the market was cool for his services. After changing agents twice, Harris found his way back to the Broncos on a very team-friendly deal. He backed up his 2019 performance with more strong play in 2020, even though he had to deal with getting COVID-19 and missing time because of it.

He’s a leader in the locker room and one of the best players on the team. The Broncos took a chance on him years ago, and Harris has really thrived in Vic Fangio’s defense. The dirty secret in the NFL is that it’s all about “fit” and Harris certainly fits what the team wants him to do.

Why is this disappointing? It’s not disappointing at all, but it is a bit telling how this team could have signed Harris to a better deal a year ago. They knew what kind of player he is, and after testing the market in 2020, Harris would have signed for a lot less a year ago. The team could’ve rewarded Harris with a long-term deal a year ago and likely saved millions had they done that.

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Speed Kills

Everyone under the sun was expecting the Broncos to get a cornerback in free agency – maybe two! On Monday, they signed veteran cornerback Ronald Darby to be a starter. He got a three-year deal from the Broncos worth $30 million with $19.5 million in guarantees.

I liked Darby when he came out of Florida State in the 2015 NFL Draft. I had a late first-round grade on him, but he fell to the Buffalo Bills in the second round. In college, Darby had 4.3 speed and turned his hips with ease to lock onto receivers. He lacked ball skills and didn’t get many interceptions, even though he did collect plenty of passes defensed.

That’s been his game in the pros with three teams so far. Darby moved on from the Bills after just two seasons and went to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. In the three seasons he spent in the City of Brotherly Love, Darby missed 20 games due to various injuries. Those injury woes caused the Eagles to move on from him. He spent the 2020 season with the Washington Football Team and played all 16 games. Darby played 1,001 snaps and did not have a single interception, but he did record 16 pass breakups.

The Broncos liked him enough to make a move on day one of free agency and make Darby the 15th highest-paid cornerback in the league. That’s a pretty bold move for a player with an injury history like Darby.

Why is this disappointing? The Broncos may have overpaid for an injury-prone cornerback who doesn’t get interceptions. Turnovers have been lacking from this defense under head coach Vic Fangio, and Darby simply isn’t going to help that number go up. The market developed for Darby more than I expected as I thought he might be a “second wave” free agent instead of a guy who would get a deal on the first day of activity.

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Option Declined

The team declined to pick up the contract option of safety Kareem Jackson, effectively putting him on the open market. He had a $1.5 million team option that kicked in this week, and Jackson was on the books for $10 million in the final year of his contract.

They worked on trying to find a way to keep him around, but couldn’t come to an agreement. Jackson came to the Broncos two years ago and converted from cornerback to play safety. He was a physical corner and loved hitting opponents, so moving to safety was a natural move. Jackson did not let the team down with his transition. He worked especially well with Fangio in this defense and was still playing at a high level.

Why is this disappointing? First and foremost, I think Jackson still has a year or two left in the tank as a quality starter. He’s shown little signs (if any) of slowing down and an extension (which they worked on but could not agree on) would have been a better move.

Secondly, removing Jackson from the roster gets rid of the biggest supporter the team could have in recruiting quarterback Deshaun Watson. Jackson getting released doesn’t automatically mean the Broncos can’t get Watson, but it doesn’t help. Jackson has already talked about how much he would’ve loved Watson to get traded to Denver. Now, his answer will be different.

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True Lies

The Broncos have constantly lied to running back Phillip Lindsay. That sounds a bit harsh, but I believe this to be true. On Monday, the Broncos decided to place an original round tender on Lindsay, which opens the door for him to move on to another team.

Coming out of the University of Colorado, Lindsay was told by the Broncos that they would select him in the 2018 NFL Draft. Instead, the team selected Royce Freeman in the third round to be their lead back. Adding salt to the wound was that Denver selected power back David Williams in the seventh round to work into the rotation. Lindsay was then added as a college free agent after the draft.

Lindsay responded with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, the first undrafted free agent to ever do that in NFL history. Meanwhile, Freeman lost confidence and could not beat out Lindsay for the starting job and Williams was off the roster (and out of the league) before you could even tell he was gone. Both moves were mistakes looking back, but adding Lindsay made this team better.

A year ago, former general manager John Elway said the team would look at Lindsay’s contract as he was set to be a restricted free agent after the 2020 season. Well, the team may have looked at Lindsay’s deal, but they did not give him a new contract.

He battled through multiple injuries in 2020 and did not get much of a chance to showcase what he could be in the Pat Shurmur offense. Now, with an original-round tender, Lindsay could move on and the team won’t get any compensation from the team that signs him away. At a press conference earlier this month, new general manager George Paton did say that he wanted to keep Lindsay around, but didn’t know what tender he’d place on him. If Paton really wanted to keep Lindsay on the roster, then a second-round tender would have done the trick.

Why is this disappointing? There are quite a few places I could begin here. Lindsay is a hard worker and brings an energy to the field that other players do not. He’s a better receiving back than he’s been given credit for and if used the right way he would be more productive than starter Melvin Gordon. Broncos fans had better be prepared to lose a fan favorite to a team where he would be given a larger opportunity.

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