The Denver Broncos have made one big splash in free agency with Wes Welker and one mistake in letting Elvis Dumervil get cut due to paperwork, but the team is taking steps to get over that, as they have scheduled visits with free agents Dwight Freeney and John Abraham.
According to ESPN.com, league sources said that the Broncos have scheduled visits with the two premier pass rushers, although it could be an attempt to get Elvis Dumervil to decide whether to stay with the team or not. The Broncos were forced to cut Dumervil after some paperwork was messed up and now that John Elway has made him and offer, the team could be using this to pressure him to accept it.
Freeney was previously rumored to be interested in Denver due to his old teammate Peyton Manning and the Colts franchise sacks leader will visit the team on Wednesday night, while sources said Abraham would visit on Thursday. The two players are the top pass rushers left on the market.
The front office people and Elway were in Arizona for the owners meetings and could bring in Freeney or Abraham to help if Dumervil leaves. Freeney has been a solid player for most of his career, but his numbers have diminished as time has gone on, making just five sacks and 12 tackles last season.
Freeney's numbers have gone down each year from when he went from 31 tackles and 13.5 sacks in 2009 to 25 tackles and 10 sacks in 2010 and finally 19 tackles and 8.5 sacks in 2011. Freeney has good speed despite his 33-year-old age and he can still pull off his patented spin move no defenders.
Abraham could also be a solid addition to the team, as he made 10 sacks last season for the Falcons and was cut due to salary cap reasons. The Falcons would have liked to keep him, but they had their own free agents to pay still, including Sam Baker and others.
Denver is in this situation due to a strange occurrence that went down between the league, the team and Dumervil's agent. According to ESPN.com, Dumervil and the Broncos had an agreement for him to bring down his $12 million salary for 2013 to $8 million, but the restructured deal was not faxed in time to the league office by his agent, forcing the team to cut him rather than pay the salary.
Dumervil fired his agent after the incident and now the team would like to re-sign him, but they are tight on the salary cap and now other teams have tried to go after him, including the Steelers and Ravens. Dumervil originally signed a six-year, $61.5 million contract in 2010 and had 11 sacks last season.
He is a fast rusher and led the league with 17 sacks in 2009 and is one of the top pass rushers in the league. According to the Denver Post, Dumervil is not happy with the Broncos and plans to take meetings with other teams, which could be one reason why the Broncos scheduled those meetings with Freeney and Abraham.
Denver knows that Dumervil is a better, younger and faster option, but the money may not work out after the deal between the two sides got messed up. Chances are his agent will never live that move down.