File this story under things that happen every year, but you don’t really think about it or dwell on it. However, since the opening of ‘legal’ tampering in the NFL the cut-throat behavior between teams to get the best talent on the open market is pretty intense. That nearly happened to two of the Denver Broncos three top free agent signings this year. Imagine how irritated we’d be as fans had that happened.

Mike Klis of 9News dropped some interesting news this week relating to two of Denver’s biggest acquisitions: safety Talanoa Hufanga and linebacker Dre Greenlaw. Both were targeted after news broke of them having an agreement in place with the Broncos.

Sources have told 9NEWS that after reports of an agreement surfaced between the safety Hufanga and the Broncos on a three-year deal with a max value of $45 million last Monday, March 10, the New York Jets swooped in to make an after-the-bell pitch of sorts to Hufanga with a sweetened offer.

The New York Jets were the first to try and steal Hufanga out from under Denver’s feet, but fortunately he decided to stick with the original deal and is now a Denver Bronco. The same tactic was tried with Dre Greenlaw and special teamer Trent Sherfield after they initially placed a verbal agreement to sign with Denver.

At least with the Jets, both teams had to work through Hufanga’s agent so the playing field was level. With the other two, the San Francisco 49ers were allowed to reach out directly to Greenlaw as he was still technically under contract and the same went for the Minnesota Vikings and Sherfield.

That both decided to commit to leaving anyway to Denver is a huge win for the Broncos. With most of their defense under contract and attacking their weakest links with the Hufanga and Greenlaw signings, the Broncos look pretty dangerous on paper on that side of the ball. Getting a special teams ace was the cherry on top.

It must be a wild two days for every front office in the NFL during that legal tampering window. All we get are the week-after action reports and even those are crazy. In any case, glad it all worked out for us fans in the end.

Horse Tracks

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Good morning, Broncos Country.

It took a while for all the contract breakdowns to surface, but now fans have a more concrete idea of where the Denver Broncos stand salary cap wise after their free agent additions.

According to OverTheCap, the Broncos have $17.4 million in salary cap space. However, that doesn’t account for recently signed punter Matt Haack. Factoring in Haack’s deal, Denver has a little more than $16 million in cap space available. That provides them with a lot of flexibility.

Keep in mind, the team’s 2025 NFL Draft class will chip into that portion a bit once the Top 51 are cemented once the roster is finalized. However, it appears the Broncos possess the cap flexibility to make another splash in free agency if they so choose. Perhaps they could entertain bringing someone into the fold via a trade prior to or during this year’s draft. Why not? That seemed to work out for them with Jonathan Franklin-Myers.

If not, they’ll rollover the remainder to 2026 which wouldn’t be a bad decision either. That might be the smart play. Those funds will be useful especially if Zach Allen, Nik Bonitto, or Courtland Sutton agree to terms on contract extensions in the following months.

What do you think, Broncos Country? Do you expect Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager George Paton to surprise us with another big outside addition? Or do you feel they will stand pat through the draft and extend in-house players? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

As always, thanks for reading. Here is today’s slate of articles for Horse Tracks.

Broncos News & Tidbits

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Broncos secure key free agents amid fierce NFL competition
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NFL News & Tidbits

Best NFL team fits for notable remaining free agents: Aaron Rodgers to Giants? Keenan Allen to Raiders?
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Vikings not pursuing Aaron Rodgers; team has rejected trade calls surrounding J.J. McCarthy
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