Laddie Morse
The AFC West will not be the same this coming year. Records may turn out the same, but the rosters are all rearranged. With the “legal tampering” period starting yesterday, teams all across the league were signing Free Agents willy-nilly and so the AFC West was not the only division making drastic overhauls. However, today we focus on the AFC West to see if it has changed much.
The Denver Broncos
The Broncos got started long ago actually by first firing their head coach then hiring a new one in Sean Payton. Of all the offseason moves by other teams in the AFC West, the hiring of Sean Payton is most concerning. He has not only won a Super Bowl — SB XLIV — but he has a regular season winning percentage of .624 with 64 more wins than losses over a 15 year span with the New Orleans Saints. It also means he has an eye for talent, and while the Broncos finished the 2022 season with a 6-and-11 record, and in third place in the AFC West, they will be a team to watch in 2023.
Quarterback Controversy
Many new NFL Head Coaches get to pick — or draft — their own quarterback, but that will not be the case this time around. Just last offseason, the Broncos traded for Russell Wilson the star QB of the Seattle Seahawks. To get Wilson, the Broncos traded quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, two 1st-round picks, one in 2022, #9 overall (Seahawks took Charles Cross, OT), and one in 2023. #5 overall and two 2nd-round picks, one in 2022, #40 overall (Boye Mafe, DE), and one in 2023 #37 overall, plus a 2022 5th-round selection to the Seahawks… all for Russell Wilson and a 2022 4th-round pick (Eyioma Uwazurike DT). Wilson then signed a new deal with the Broncos, from CBS Sports:
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“Wilson’s $49 million per year extension runs though the 2028 season because of the two pre-existing contract years. Overall, he is under contract seven years for a total of $296 million. The deal contains $165 million in guarantees with $124 million fully guaranteed at signing, which is the second-most ever in an NFL contract. The $124 million fully guaranteed at signing includes a $50 million signing bonus, which is prorated on the salary cap at $10 million annually from 2022 through 2026.”
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“Wilson’s fully guaranteed $28 million 2023 base salary reduces to $8 million provided a $20 million payment is made to exercise an option for his 2027 contract year worth $45 million. The window to exercise this option is the first day of the 2023 league year (March 15) through the fifth day of the 2023 league year (March 19).”
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Many are speculating — hoping — that Sean Payton will be able to “fix” Russell Wilson, but I have my doubts. However, they signed QB Jarrett Stidham in Free Agency (on Monday)… or I should say… will sign (on Wednesday). Although Stidham is seen as a back-up to Russell Wilson, he could be thought of as Payton’s Back-up Plan. IOW, Stidham may be there to insert when Wilson goes rogue… again. I guess he won’t be running and hiding in his office, because Payton said he plans on taking that away.
The Broncos always seem to put a solid defense on the field and the same will be true this season. What still needs attention is their Offense. On Monday during the legal tampering period, they signed OT Mike McGlinchey and OG Ben Powers. Will that be enough to fix their OL? We’ll have to wait and see on that one.
Cap Situation
OvertheCap.com says the Broncos had $25,430,684 before the legal tampering period for Free Agency began yesterday around noon. Then they signed Mike McGlinchey for a 5-year, $87.5 million deal plus over $50 million guaranteed and Ben Powers to a 3-year, $52 million deal plus $28.5 million in guarantees. LB Alex Singleton also re-signed for an $18M deal with $9M guaranteed. TE Chris Manhertz also signed a deal with Denver. Where that leaves them… I’m unsure, but the Free Agent feeding frenzy could go on for awhile now… or until the owners run out of cap.
Late last evening the Broncos made another move signing the former Cardinals DE Zach Allen to a 3-year deal worth $45.75M with $32.5M in guarantees. He been in the NFL for four years and had 5.5 sacks in 2022.
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Los Angeles Chargers
QB Easton Stick was re-signed so the Chargers on Monday. That’s the total of their moves, so far.
Chargers Cap Situation
OvertheCap.com has the Chargers cap number sitting at $18,027,543 before they made any offseason move. Stick was re-signed for $1.8M.
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Las Vegas Raiders
The Vegas Raiders have had an beguiling dispensation, from 2021-2022. First, they fired Jon Gruden and eventually hired Josh McDaniels to be their new man in charge. McDaniels was with the New England Patriots for years with short stints in Denver from 2009-to-2010 and St. Louis in 2011, before heading back to NE to reconnect with his mentor Bill Belichick.
What the Raiders (and McDaniels) did with Derek Carr is not copacetic in the least degree. By cutting Carr before last Wednesday, the Raiders are only on the hook for $5.6M of his salary in the future (called Dead Money). It could have been over $40M.
In the meantime, on Monday, the Raiders agreed to a deal with QB Jimmy Garoppolo for 3-years and $72.75M. This rekindled relationship between Garoppolo and McDaniels could be seen coming a mile away. They were both in New England for years — from 2014 to 2017 — and Garoppolo was once thought to be the heir apparent to Tom Brady.
The Raiders also re-signed RB Ameer Abdullah to a one-year deal worth $1.75M. Josh Jacobs was also placed on their non-exclusive franchise tag so he can sign with another team but the Raiders can match that amount. Also, S Marcus Epps, signed a a 2-year, $12M deal which has nearly $8M guaranteed.
Raiders Cap Situation
The Raiders have $27,385,788 of available cap space this offseason according to OvertheCap.com. I expect they’ll be making many more moves this offseason with that kind of cap availability.
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Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs made a move to solve their Offensive Tackle issues with one fell swoop. They signed OT Jawaan Taylor from the Jacksonville Jaguars and while he has played the majority of his snaps at Right Tackle, I fully expect him to fit right into the Left Tackle position, thereby instantly solving their Left Tackle problems.
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Ultimately, this is not about Brett Veach but his mastery of solving roster issues should be award winning. Jawaan Taylor has some of hte best feet I’ve seen on an offensive lineman, ever. Take a look:
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Consider what NFL talent evaluator Ryan Tracy has to say about Taylor:
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“Jawaan Taylor’s feet are the real deal. Playing for Doug in JAX confirms he understands the offense. Both those things make me pretty comfortable his base skills.” –Ryan Tracy
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While Jawaan Taylor is expected to bump over to the Left side at Tackle, the Chiefs have been dealing with the Right Tackle position too, especially now that Andrew Wylie has signed with the Washington Commanders. You can be sure that Eric Bieniemy had something to do with that and Wylie was singed for $8M per year for three years equaling $24M total… and who can blame him.
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Kansas City Chiefs Cap Situation
OvertheCap.com has the Chiefs with $14,328,715 available cap before Monday’s signing of OT Jawaan Taylor. I expect more moves to come for K.C. and at least one of those moves should involve the DE position.
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While K.C. — Brett Veach — has many of their own Free Agents to re-sign, I expect that to happen and for those like Jawaan Taylor who joins the team, each will be an upgrade over what the Chiefs had in 2022. Bryan Cook was an upgrade over Daniel Sorensen from 2021 and I expect upgrades across the board this year too.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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