History typically indicates that you don’t need to win the free agency battle to win championships. Just ask the Miami Heat.
However, the Denver Broncos plan to be aggressive when free agency starts in March, and that could mean a variety of different things. First of all, the team has nearly $50 million in cap space, the fourth most in the league, and they have not even cut anybody yet. Second, the Broncos don’t have a ton of high priced free agents yet to re-sign, but there are quite a few guys on their unrestricted free agent list, including Brodrick Bunkley, Matt Prater, Eddie Royal, and Wesley Woodyard.
The Broncos also have a lot of motive to be aggressive on the free agent market, needing some veterans at key positions, like backup quarterback, wide receiver, safety, and possibly tight end.
Denver could also be big players for some of the top young players on the market, specifically at the cornerback position. The plan eventually–we all assume–is that Champ Bailey will move to safety someday, so adding a young cornerback like Brandon Carr makes a ton of sense to me.
There is also a chance that the Broncos would like to get another running back or two from the free agent pool this offseason, and perhaps upgrade their offensive line.
Really, there are a ton of directions the Broncos could go in free agency, but one area I don’t really see them spending a ton of time and money outside their in-house players is defensive tackle, which might be better served being built through the draft. The Broncos have to re-sign Marcus Thomas and Brodrick Bunkley before they can really start building around that position, and veteran Ty Warren also returns this season after signing a sizeable deal last offseason after being cut by the Patriots.
Warren was slated to be one of the Broncos’ starting tackles and give them an interior pass rush which they really lacked in 2011.
Either way, this is positive news if you’re a Broncos fan, because your team finished in the playoffs last year and could be getting some nice upgrades with a big cap number in 2012.