Friday, February 15, 2013
Impact of Clady's potential tag
By Tim Kavanagh
Starting Tuesday, and running through the March 4 deadline, NFL teams can place the franchise tag on one impending free agent on their roster. According to the Denver Post, the Denver Broncos will be doing so with LT Ryan Clady.
It's not an unexpected move, and it won't bear a huge impact on the rest of their internal free agent class: none of the others were expected to be tagged or receive a contract approaching the tag value. Importantly, it appears that the Broncos are interested in signing Clady to a long-term deal that would replace the tag, and give them a better salary cap situation. There are months to go before that deadline, so by tagging him, this takes off some pressure.
In the meantime, the Broncos can now finalize their discussions with other impending free agents -- per the Post's Mike Klis, special teams ace David Bruton is another priority -- as well as prepare themselves for open free agency. It's expected that the Broncos will address the defensive tackle position this offseason, perhaps both in free agency and the draft. Other areas of emphasis are believed to be CB, WR, interior OL, LB and RB.
