When free agency began, Joe Mays admits he had doubts he would end up back in Denver.

“I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, just not knowing what to expect, not knowing what direction the team wanted to go in,” he said Thursday.

So the linebacker began visiting other teams. Fresh off a trip to New Orleans, he hopped on a plane headed to Washington before connecting to Indianapolis.

Mays, who typically turns off his phone as soon as he gets on a plane — “I usually do that and follow directions,” he smiled — kept it on this time.

And it rang.

The Broncos have agreed to terms to re-sign linebacker Joe Mays, the team announced on Sunday. Mays played all 16 games (12 starts) for the team in 2011 and ranked third on the club with 74 tackles.

He led the team with 7.5 tackles for a loss and posted 10 games with five or more tackles during the 2011 season, including the Broncos’ two postseason contests, which he started.

Mays, who will enter his fifth NFL season in 2012, has totaled 109 tackles in his career. He also has three pass breakups and one forced fumble.

A sixth-round pick by Philadelphia in the 2008 NFL Draft, Mays spent the first two years of his career with the Eagles before joining the Broncos via trade prior to the 2010 season.

He tallied 285 tackles in 43 games for North Dakota State University, where he earned first-team Division I-AA honors and was named the Great West Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

-Stuart Zaas