When the Broncos signed quarterback Peyton Manning, much was made about the on-field contributions expected of the four-time NFL MVP. With the first Sunday of the regular season 164 days away, Manning has already helped the team improve via the free agent market.
In the ten days since Manning agreed to terms on March 20, the Broncos have added seven additional free agents: WR Andre Caldwell, LB Wesley Woodyard, CB Tracy Porter, QB Caleb Hanie, TE Joel Dreessen, TE Jacob Tamme and DE Jason Hunter.
Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway said that he expected other free agents to be excited about the prospects of playing with a proven winner like Manning.
“It always helps because when you have a guy on your team like Peyton Manning, you have a chance to win and players in the NFL know that,” Elway said. “There are a lot of guys out there that are free that want to go somewhere where they can win championships. It is a huge benefit and it already has [helped]. We have seen that as we have seen the reaction of guys on our football team that we have been dealing with, even within the league. It is a huge plus to have a Peyton Manning on your roster.”
Elway’s words proved to be true, as the team agreed to terms with five additional players in the days following Manning’s announcement.
Caldwell was the first post-Manning free agent to join the fold and credited Manning’s presence with making Denver an appealing place to continue his career.
“It was a big factor,” Caldwell said upon choosing Denver. “He’s a veteran quarterback who knows how to win games. He knows how to put players in positions to be their best. He gets the best out of his receivers. That played a big part of it and that’s a big reason why I came.”
Tamme, who spent three seasons catching passes from Manning in Indianapolis, is looking forward to reuniting with his former quarterback. He set career highs in receptions (67), yards (631) and touchdowns (4) the last season that he and Manning played together.
“I’ve certainly enjoyed playing with Peyton,” Tamme said in a conference call. “I think he’s one of the best of all time, if not the best. It’s a lot of fun to play that style of offense to me and to be able to get in there and move fast and do things like that. I’m definitely very excited.”
Hanie, who will backup Manning, said that he is looking forward to learn from the veteran signal caller.
“Just the opportunity to back up Peyton was a huge factor,” he said. “Whatever he says, I’m going to take it in fully and write everything down that I can and just learn from him and learn how to prepare the way he does and try to see things the way he does.”
Dreessen is simply excited about the chance to catch passes from a future Hall of Famer.
“It’s no secret that Peyton Manning makes everybody he plays with better,” Dreessen said. “Obviously for that opportunity, I’m very excited about that, and I’m hoping to get a lot better.”
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: Andre Caldwell, Caleb Hanie, Free Agency, Jacob Tamme, Jason Hunter, Joel Dreessen, John Elway, Peyton Manning, Wesley Woodyard
BT Thats what im actually thinking. But just think if they went Blackmon and Weeden. I think they would be a whole lot better if they did that and grabbed a RB in the 2nd.
But i think it will be Richardson at 4 and a QB at 22.
Read a thing where the Eagles are meeting with Tannehill and were very interested at his pro day same with Osweiler
Its snowing out here in Colorado Springs, ugly weather today.
Strand yea from what i read it was supposed to happen 11 am ET
That means Claiborne goes to TB and then the next CB might not go unil Cincy… which means the Broncs should have their choice between Hightower/ Kirk/Jenkins at #25…
Sweet!!
Hey guys and girls! I never EVER post but I am always reading the posts even from way back when before the Tebow hype to the bay departure to the one time reapperance and so on. I posted one time a long while back with the username of knownothing. Ok enough of all that I wanted to say that I go to school at Utah State and I have seen Turbin in action, very impressive. I am a little concerned about his speed as I have seen him breakaway plenty of times but has been caught from behind. He was a solid pound runner who easily wore down the defense and then would break a few building huge yardage. Anyway that is my two cents worth, keep posting broncos fans as many people continue to read in silence.
GO BRONCOS!!!
BT Even thought the Boys got Carr i still think they take a CB along with Cincy and the Lions.
Hola Strandsky!!!
How’s your day? I’m putting a window in my House!!! I’ve done 9 of the 22 so far!!!
The boys will take S Barron if they go Secondary….
and with LeShour getting nailed twice with P O T in one month, Look for the Lions to entertain the idea of drafting a Big RB early such as Martin or Miller…
BT I dont know about that…They do have a need at Safety. But other than them not a whole lot of teams need a Safety till later in the first. They could trade up to grab him and a CB with their first pick.
I read that Claiborne scored a 4 out of 50 on the wonderlic, for whatever that’s worth…
Cowboys don’t have alot of Draft Ammo… or Cap space to make moves after the sanction…
S is their biggest need on Paper… I look for them or NYJ to be looking at Barron really closely…
I also dont see our need for a CB this year. I mean yea Bailey is old but we have Porter and a bunch of other young guys too. And Goodman
….. But i dont see our need for a CB early.
Cowboys have all their picks this and next year to use for a trade. But cap will be an issue. I still think they will take a CB. Other than Carr they dont have a good CB.
I think our needs comes in the form of added quality depth…
Goody and Champ both missed significant time the last two seasons with Injury… Squid, Vaughn etc have all had season ending injuries in their short careers… Porter had microfracture surgery and is on a one year contract… that equals need to me… !!!
BT I get that but i dont see it as a first round need. Cause how much playing time would he get if they stay healthy? We need a guy at 25 that can come in and start right away no matter what. Like a DT.
The boys are also in the market for a quality LB… Jerry Jones likes Safeties and DE’s early in the draft…
Also, don’t be surprised if they pick up a Quality Interior Offensive Lineman… they are REALLY thin at OL…
I’d be willing to bet money that the Jets take a RT in the first round, if not a pass rusher… Both HUGE needs, and they signed LaRon Landry in the offseason, which got overlooked with the Tebow signing
If the Cowboys draft Barron that would be an excellent pick for them.
There are lots of DT’s… LOTS! and not many that are worth that much more at 25 than 57…
I know BEEEF is our biggest need… but taking Hightower or Kirk/Jenk gives us a better player in the first and that should be the focus… not just a positional starter for need…
BT Other than the Cowboys there the Bengals Titans Lions Bears and even the Browns and Steelers have a need at CB to. The Browns need a 2nd guy to add to Haden and the Steelers need a real good 2nd possibly 1st string CB. Bears CBs are old. Lions need on. Titans lost Finnagan. and the Bengals have a good 1st and 3rd string guy but also need a real good 2nd.
The fact that we might go into the draft with $10M+ in cap space, leads me to believe that we are leaving the window open to trade up, as the higher the pick, the more expensive to sign..
Hightower i agree on as you know. But after the Porter signing we dont need a early round CB cause he wont get a whole lot of playing time with Bailey Porter and Harris being the top 3 guys.
OT At least theres a cap now for rookies. No more seeing Russel sized contracts.
Doing great Turtle!
I want the best available pass rusher at #25, I don’t care if it’s a DT, DE, or LB… We need a third pass rusher to go along with Von & Elvis to put us over the top IMO
AB – I’m aware of the rookie wage scale, but even so, if we traded up and drafted a few guys in the higher rounds, it would cost more than the later rounds
OT thats true. I would love to see Reyes at 25 or Perry McClelin there also. But Winn at 57 im pretty set on that. He doesnt have stats that pop but he was double teamed and triple teamed a lot. Plus he excels as run stopping but is good at getting inside pressure.
OT I figured you were aware wasnt saying it in case you wernt informed of it. I was saying it cause there wont be huge contracts now so that 10+ mil can be spread even more and add more options to what we can do.
Yep. And remember, the idea is we will be playing with the lead more than not, so our opponents will be forced to pass, and if we can get after the QB, together with being able to run the ball (and clock), it will play right into our hand
McClelin, another BS Bronco, he`s a great pass-rusher. He`s moving up the charts too.
OT true. I have said a lot that we need another pass rusher. Its why i wanted Williams. McClelin is a OLB/DE would be a good addition. Nick Perry also liek i said. IMO McClelin is more of a run stopper and pass rusher where Nick Perry is just a very good pass rusher.
Strand Mayock was saying on NFLN that hes a bit like Clay Matthews and that if hes there when the Packers pick that would be who they choose.
Ummmm…. guys… we really are going to have to be able to stop the run… which this team is horrible at…
We won’t be playing with any type of lead if the opposing team can drive the ball 8 minutes down our throats…. even if we score EVERY time…
This team needs ALOT of help on Defense… one DT here or a LB there is not going to take the 20th ranked D and make it a top 10… even with PM…
We owe it to PM to give him the kind of D he never had in Indy… too bad he is taking up 15% of our Salary Cap alone this season….
The rookie wage scale was one of the best things for the league IMO.. Before it almost penalized the teams with the high draft picks, saddling them with huge contracts for guys who may or may not be legit, which went against the whole idea of having the high picks in the first place…
LOL BT i was wondering when you were going to say something like that. But a pass rusher at 25 we could grab a couple real good run stopping DTs at 57 like Winn and in the 4th. Plus we have Warren coming back and if he can stay healthy and play like he did 2 seasons ago when he last played he would be a good run stuffer also.
OT I completely agree!!! Thats what i was trying to say with not as many words lol. Guess the Russel sized contracts wasnt enough lol.
The rookie cap makes it even more reasonable to trade up.
If there wasnt one I doubt the Redskins would have traded up and if they did I doubt they would have given up as much.
New Blog BIATCHKINS!!!!
I’ll be greatly disappointed if we don’t draft a DT in the early rounds of the draft this year. I know we have some good cap space, but I hope we don’t move up the draft to select and offensive player.
#30T.D. – welcome to the blogs and thanks for the insight on RB Robert Turbin. Always good to hear from someone who knows first hand.
Fair point BT, we have to stop the run.. Right now we have Ty Warren, Kevin Vickerson, Jeremy Jarmon, Ryan McBean, Silver Siliga, and Mitch Unrein at DT.. Might not be the best group, but it’s a mixture of veterans and youth.. You have to figure that John Fox, and Del Rio has looked these guys over, and I’m sure we will draft at least one DT in the draft..
TD welcome as well look forward to blogging with you
Thanks, i’ll see if I can blog more. I know there is another blog now but I wanted to post here to thank you guys.
With Peyton Manning as the denver broncos quarterback I believe that the broncos will be superbowl contenders I think they will go 14-2, 13-3, or 12-4 and win there division whether or not they make it to the super bowl i would just have to say they have a better chance than they would ever have had with tim tebow, and his inaccuracy at throwing and improbailities of finding open receivers. But anyway we are now where we need to be we just need to find a runningback that can get us some better yards