Cincinnati Bengals Non-Playoff Team Free Agency Targets: Denver Broncos

Our attention of 2018 free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should target shifts to non-playoff teams. Next up in the series: the Denver Broncos.

The NFL offseason is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen. An exciting Super Bowl ended the 2017 playoffs with a bang only a couple weeks ago, but it isn’t long until we see 2018 truly begin. The Cincinnati Bengals will then be back in the mix of the league.

Only a few weeks away is March 14, the beginning of free agency. Now is the time to figure out who is worth pursuing for and from every team.

We’ve already taken a look at players from the teams who participated in the 2017 playoffs who the Bengals should pursue. Now, we begin to look at players on the teams who missed the playoffs. This exercise kicked off with the Oakland Raiders, and we now look at a player on their division rivals: the Denver Broncos.

Matt Paradis, C

“Lacks the ideal size to play center.” “Average athlete for the position.” “Falls off blocks when he bends at the waist.” This is the gist of the thoughts on Paradis as he entered the NFL, and it undoubtedly affected how his career began.

A sixth-round selection by the Broncos in 2014 seemed like a stretch to to some, and he would end up waived and left dangling on a futures contract entering 2015, looking likely to be yet another young player who never amounted to more than a warm body fighting for back-end roster spots.

That futures contract actually became something for the young center, however. He ended up taking every single center snap for the 2015 Broncos, cementing himself as a full time contributor. He would again be out there for every snap in 2016, but this time he stepped up his game to a remarkable level: Pro Football Focus Edge gave him a 90.4 grade that season — an elite rating, and something nobody likely saw coming for the former afterthought.

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2017 wasn’t quite as successful, and it brings into question again exactly what Paradis is as a player. Pre-draft analysis made it seem like he was questionable to even be a backup, much less a quality starter. 2016 made him appear elite even when his line as a whole wasn’t exactly performing well. 2015 and 2017 show someone somewhere in the middle of it all: good enough to play, but probably not the trendsetter a team would want to pay when the bill comes due.

The aforementioned bill is up. Denver has been fortunate to find a diamond in the rough and pay him a pittance for multiple years of service. Despite his overall quality play throughout, in his three seasons so far Paradis has barely surpassed the $1 million threshold. Even in a somewhat down year for him, he still was top-10 among centers in PFF’s grading metrics. Even as a restricted free agent, he’s in line for a decent bump in pay.

It is a good question as to whether Denver will manage to keep him. The team has about $25 million in salary cap space right now, and will probably add more through some key veteran roster cuts. Remember though: this is a team which always is hunting in free agency, and they will put plenty of effort towards acquiring a new starting quarterback there this time around. If it is Kirk Cousins, there goes all their current cap room (and possibly then some). If it is a next-tier guy such as Tyrod Taylor, Case Keenum or Sam Bradford, we’re still talking in the $15-20 million range right now because that is just what expected starting guys are paid these days.

With a new big quarterback contract in tow, anyone who wants to target Paradis will have an opening. Even with centers being relatively cheap, Denver won’t have much money for anything beyond a quarterback. According to Spotrac, the average center salary is $3.4 million, with only fullbacks and specialists having lower combined salary allotments league-wide. Paradis has done enough to be valued above the average (Spotrac’s estimate for his value: $6.5 million/year). So seeing someone toss him a $4-5 million per year offer sheet would be good value to them and possibly keep Denver from matching.

The one thing which could muck things up is exactly that Denver can match. Restricted free agency lets them keep the option open to match any offer sent Paradis’ way. Not only that, but they also can place draft pick tenders on him as well: original round, second round, or first round. With those latter two tenders, anyone signing Paradis must give up that level of pick to Denver in this draft for the right to officially sign him.

Restricted free agency is a major roadblock here. Not only would Cincinnati need to offer a contract Denver doesn’t want to match, but they presumably will need to give up a second round selection as well (it’s a no go if he’s a first round tender). While I believe he’d be worth it, the notoriously cheap organization may still not go that route even with a massive offensive line overhaul direly needed.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Full two-round projection

That would be a mistake. Paradis isn’t a fix on his own, but he is starter material even if his normal level is 2017 and not 2016. Despite having yet another bumbling offense around him at every level last year, he still produced a fine season. He wouldn’t have much help as of yet in Cincinnati, but add some bodies in free agency and the draft alongside him and Clint Boling and there’s at least a chance of stumbling into improvements.

A proven starter in his prime with upside for the price of a mid-tier contract and a second round pick? That is a worthwhile price to pay, even if NFL decision-makers aren’t yet ready to make it. The situations in Denver and Cincinnati are a prime opportunity to begin changing that thought process, for the better of Cincinnati this year and for the league in general going forward.

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