(USA Today Sports)
John Elway has been seething about the Broncos being blown out by the Seahawks last month in the Super Bowl. He talked about how he wanted his defense to get meaner and tougher when he spoke to the media two days after the Broncos’ Super Bowl loss. It was clear he was going to focus on adding new players on defense this offseason.
Elway had a month to target guys he was going to get, and he executed it by spending $110 million ($60 million guaranteed) to T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware. The three new Broncos should give a defense quite a toughness that was lacking this past season.
The defense did good in the playoffs, but Elway knew this was not conducive to success next season. Not when that unit was ranked 22nd in points allowed this past season. That unit got by. He knew he had to change things up.
The Broncos defense is not going to be as good as the Seahawks defense, but that defense should be better. One thing that can be counted on with the new acquisitions is they are going to knock guys down.
Ward is as good as a hitter the Broncos can find. Ask Rob Gronkowski, who was out for the season after the Browns safety hit his knees. Ask Bengals wide receiver Jordan Shipley, who suffered a concussion in 2010. Ask Cowboys wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, who suffered a concussion in 2012 after a Ward hit.
Ward had 75 total tackles last season for the Browns. He is the type of guy that can stop the run and limit players from running their route.
After watching Kam Chancellor took the will of the Broncos wide receivers by giving them a remember me hits that would make Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams blush, Elway was looking for a player like that. That’s why Ward earned his $23 million, four-year contract ($14 million guaranteed) from the Broncos.
The Broncos signed a cornerback that can play alongside Chris Harris Jr. after they released Champ Bailey. They signed Talib last night. He is another guy that will be more than happy to hit wide receivers. He is a guy that won’t let wide receivers get their way of catching the ball and running for 20 yards.
Ask Jimmy Graham, A.J. Green and Roddy White on how good Talib is. He shut them down this past season.
Talib had four interceptions and 41 combined tackles this past season, and he still has his best football days ahead of him despite playing for a few years. It was worth the six-year, $57 million ($26 million guaranteed) the Broncos are paying him.
Now, the Patriots cornerback is injury-prone. But the Broncos can’t be in a beggars can’t be choosers position. They needed to sign someone who can play cornerback. They couldn’t wait for someone better like Darrelle Revis, who was going to take his time in finding his best suitor.
Rather than wait, they found someone who was ready to take their offer before another team snatched that player up. That’s why the Broncos did the right thing by not dilly-dallying in filling their need in cornerback.
The Ware signing stands out the most of all the free agent signings the Broncos signed. They upgraded at pass rush by signing the former Cowboy. He and Von Miller will form a 1-2 duo when it comes to pass rushing. That means there will be blitzing this coming season under Jack Del Rio’s defense.
When the Cowboys released Ware because of salary cap implications, Elway had Ware’s agent number on speed dial. The seven-time Pro Bowl pass rusher was a guy the Broncos had to have in making life miserable for quarterbacks. With him being fourth in career sacks among active players with 117, it was easy for the Broncos executive to hand him a three-year, $30 million deal ($20 million guaranteed).
Ware is still playing at a high level being that he is in his 30s now. It was easy for Elway not to think long and hard in giving the seven-time Pro Bowler that deal. Ware’s release was an opportunity that could not pass up after they had a hard time finding anyone that could replace Elvis Dumervil’s production last year.
Now, there will be consequences to these signings. It means Eric Decker, Knowshon Moreno and Wesley Woodyard are gone. That’s okay, though. The Broncos should be fine offensively without Decker, and Montee Ball did enough to be reliable in replacing Moreno. Woodyard is replaceable.
The Broncos had to address their need rather than focusing on keeping their players. They have to achieve the objective of being a tough team to go up against.
Elway knew what he had to do, and he executed it well. He used Peyton Manning as a good sales pitch that helped Ware, Ward and Talib to sign with the Broncos.
That’s Elway. When he has certain things that has to be done, he gets it done. It’s what makes him successful as a player, businessman and NFL executive.
All in a day’s work.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter.
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
