The Denver Broncos are willing to let Brock Osweiler go into free agency and are not willing to pay him the going rate of $16 million per year, according to a report.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, the Broncos have not been willing to offer the $16 million salary that is regarded as the baseline for an NFL starting quarterback.
“The Broncos are willing to let Osweiler hit the free agent market at this point in time and check out what is also available, believing that he is not going to get the monster offer that’s going to drag him away from the Broncos,” Cole said.
Cole also notes that Denver likely won’t overpay Osweiler on a long-term deal because the organization thinks highly of first year quarterback Trevor Siemian and believes that he could eventually be an NFL caliber starter.
The Broncos are betting that Osweiler won’t get what he wants in free agency and that he’ll eventually want to return to Denver, where he’ll have a championship roster and a staff that is already familiar with him. However, it doesn’t sound as though the two sides will resolve their differences soon.
It was previously reported that the Broncos were holding off on talks with Osweiler out of respect for Peyton Manning, but now it seems that the two sides just aren’t seeing eye to eye. There is at least one team that would reportedly be interested if Osweiler did hit the market. The Broncos, meanwhile, may have an alternative in mind if Osweiler does end up elsewhere.
