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Broncos free agency tracker: A quieter day Day 2 of negotiating period for Denver, but activity continues

Welcome back to Day 2 of the NFL’s legal tampering period. The league year officially starts Wednesday and when it does, the Broncos will be finalizing contracts with several players.

They spent Monday beginning what’s shaping up to be quite a roster overhaul under general manager George Paton and new head coach Sean Payton, agreeing to terms with six players.

Here’s how the action broke down from Monday.

Denver started its offensive line rebuild with a couple of big swings in RT Mike McGlinchey and G Ben Powers.

The Broncos signed defensive lineman Zach Allen, while Dre’Mont Jones went to Seattle.

Two weeks after Paton called linebacker Alex Singleton “a baller,” Denver’s 2022 leading tackler is back on a three-year deal.

Payton and Paton added a couple of important depth pieces on offense in QB Jarrett Stidham and tight end Chris Manhertz.

Of course, there’s a lot of offseason left, so plenty of questions are still out there.

For example, should Denver pay big free agent bucks to sign a running back?

How about trading a wide receiver?

OK, on to the updates.

Updates

7:55 p.m.: Denver added a second player on Tuesday, agreeing to a one-year deal with fullback Michael Burton.

Burton, a ninth-year player, spent the past two seasons with Kansas City and played for Payton in New Orleans in 2020.

Burton has appeared in 113 games for five different teams, spending time before the Chiefs and Saints with Detroit, Chicago and Washington.

Over his two seasons in Kansas City, Burton, 31, has also played more than half of the Chiefs’ special teams snaps.

3:20 p.m.: Denver’s Tuesday is substantially quieter than its Monday, but the Broncos are still adding players.

They agreed Tuesday afternoon to a two-year, $7.5 million deal with Cincinnati running back Samaje Perine, a league source confirmed to The Post on Tuesday afternoon.

Perine, 27, averaged 4.4 yards per carry as a role player for the Bengals over the past three seasons. He also has shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, a trait that head coach Sean Payton is likely looking to add more of in the Broncos’ backfield. Perine in 2022 carried the ball 95 times for 394 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also caught 38 passes for 287 yards and four more scores. Over the past three seasons, he’s caught 76 passes for the Bengals.

1:40 p.m.: As the Broncos consider adding more depth to their overhauled offensive line group, one of their 2022 tackles is no longer an option.

Calvin Anderson is headed to the New England Patriots with what NFL Network reports is a two-year deal.

“To #PatsNation, I remember signing with you after the draft! Everything come full circle, and I can’t wait to give you everything I have and more,” Anderson said Tuesday on Twitter. “Not much for me to say, but a lot for me to do. Let’s work.”

Anderson appeared in 14 games in 2022 for Denver and made seven starts between the two tackles spots. Overall, he’s appeared in 41 games for the Broncos over the past three seasons.

12:30 p.m.: A major move in the AFC West, though not directly involving the Broncos: Las Vegas is trading star tight end Darren Waller to the New York Giants in exchange for a third-round pick, according to several reports including ESPN. The Raiders, meanwhile, are reportedly signing wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who is one of the more accomplished pass-catchers available in a thin free agent class.

12:00 p.m.: We’re starting to get an idea of what the Broncos’ 2023 cap position looks like after Monday’s spending spree based on The Post’s reporting, Over The Cap data and other reports from around the country. It’s worth noting here that it’s safest to consider the numbers preliminary until the paperwork is officially filed with the NFLPA after the league year begins.

Powers is getting a $13 million signing bonus and, according to ESPN, has a $2 million base salary for 2023. So prorating the bonus over his four-year deal, his cap number in 2023 is $5.25 million.

OTC has Singleton’s cap charge at $3.33 million for 2023 and Stidham’s at $3.51 million.

Denver, according to multiple reports, held the 2023 base salaries low for McGlinchey and Allen.

Allen has a $15 million signing bonus and a $2.25 million base salary in 2023 — then salaries of $15.25 million in 2024 and $12.74 in 2025 (plus $510,000 in potential roster bonuses) — meaning his cap number for the upcoming season is $7.25 million when the bonus is prorated over his three-year contract.

McGlinchey is receiving a $17.5 million signing bonus and has a $2.5 million base salary in 2023 meaning his cap number for 2023 is $6 million when prorating the bonus over the five years of his deal. According to the reported details of his deal, he has $52.5 in nearly guaranteed money over the first three years of the agreement.

The only contract details that haven’t been reported are for Manhertz, but his 2023 cap number will not be prohibitive. Using some back-of-the-envelope math, the Broncos are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million in cap space remaining for 2023.

Remember, the Broncos can clear a lot more cap room if they restructure some deals for players currently on their roster. That’s not free money — it all counts against the cap at some point — but it’s an avenue to explore if Denver is really going to punch the accelerator on adding players.


Who are the Broncos’ outgoing free agents?

NamePosition2023 teamContract
Alex SingletonILBDenverThree years
Andrew BeckTEHoustonTwo years
Billy TurnerOT
Calvin AndersonOTNew EnglandTwo years
Cam FlemingOT
Dakota AllenILB
Dalton RisnerOG
Darius PhillipsCB
DeShawn WilliamsDL
Dre’Mont JonesDLSeattleThree years
Eric SaubertTE
Eric TomlinsonTE
Kareem JacksonS
Latavius MurrayRB
Marlon MackRB
Mike BooneRBHoustonTwo years
Tom ComptonOT
Chase EdmondsRB
Graham GlasgowOG
Ronald DarbyCB

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