There is only one opening day of free agency, and the Broncos marked the occasion by reaching agreements with three Pro Bowl players, all of whom play defense.
The second stage in NFL roster renovation is the draft, and the Broncos used their first pick on a defensive player.
In seven days, Broncos players will report to their construction-strewn Dove Valley headquarters for the start of training camp. Hard hats will mix with a new, blue-collar attitude.
For the first time since perhaps their Orange Crush era in the late 1970s, the Broncos will begin with excitement buzzing around their defensive side of the ball.
There is no “De” in Peyton Manning. But there is in DeMarcus Ware. The “De” is back in Denver.
“When we look at what we did offensively, there wasn’t a huge need as much as we thought we had needs on the defensive side,” Broncos general manager John Elway said.
Give Elway credit for not overthinking. He didn’t get cute. The Broncos won the AFC championship and reached the Super Bowl last season by way of Manning and an air-heavy offense. He threw for an NFL-record 55 touchdowns, and the Broncos scored a record 606 points.
A collective meltdown can be blamed for the Broncos getting whipped 43-8 by the Seattle Seahawks in that final Big Game on Feb. 2 in New Jersey.
But it became quickly clear that the defensive side is where the Broncos didn’t belong on the same field as the bullying Seahawks.
Elway kept it simple. The next time the Broncos play Seattle, their defense will have Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward.
Ware already ranks 18th all time with 117 career sacks, even though he didn’t come into the league until 2005. The next-best sack total among players who joined the league in 2005 or later is 79 by Trent Cole.
One or two more Ware-like seasons could clinch a first-ballot Hall of Fame election for the former Dallas Cowboy.
“I really don’t have personal goals,” Ware said. “It’s always just a goal of being the best — the best at my position.”
He then started talking about how he and Broncos returning star Von Miller can become the best pass-rushing tandem of all time. The ghosts of Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen just stirred, as did the pride of Alan Page and Carl Eller.
Talib is considered one of the league’s five best corners, a physical sort whose style more closely emulates Seattle’s Richard Sherman than former Broncos star Champ Bailey.
To find a player like Kam Chancellor, Seattle’s strong safety who established the Super Bowl tone with an early blast of Broncos No. 1 receiver Demaryius Thomas, Elway turned to his director of pro personnel, Tom Heckert. A former general manager of the Cleveland Browns, Heckert helped lure Ward, a hard-hitting strong safety who took out the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski last season.
“This is a time of year when people rank how good you are on paper,” Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said. “And certainly on paper, it looks real good. But I’m not really concerned much with that. I’ve talked to our guys about it. It’s about going to work every day and really building that trust where you know where your buddy’s going to be. And you’re doing it for the guy next to you, and you’re doing it at a really high level. There’s just a price you have to pay, a sacrifice you have to make. What I like most about all of our additions is they’ve come in here and they’ve been good teammates.”
When the Broncos play Seattle in Week 3 of the regular season, they also will have Miller, Chris Harris, Derek Wolfe and Rahim Moore.
Those four starters were injured late last season and didn’t play in the Super Bowl. And Bradley Roby, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick, probably will start in nickel situations.
This influx of defensive talent will not present an identity crisis backlash. Any team with Manning at quarterback is Manning’s team.
The Broncos don’t want less of Manning this year. They do want more talent around him.
When the Broncos took on Seattle on Feb. 2, they didn’t have Ware, Talib, Ward, Miller, Harris, Wolfe, Roby and Moore on defense. Miller and Harris are recovering from knee surgeries and won’t play in the preseason opener Aug. 7 against the Seahawks, but the Broncos should have those eight defensive players when they play again for keeps in Week 3 of the regular season.
“I just can’t wait until that moment where I get the real welcome from the fans,” Talib said at his introductory news conference in March. “Whether that’s the first game or maybe in training camp or whenever that is, it’ll be a big smile on my face when I get that good welcome from the Broncos fans.”
It won’t be training camp. With the exception of a select few invited to the VIP tent, the Broncos will conduct training camp without their fans. All that construction has created a safety hazard.
Perhaps it’s a symbiotic development. Offense is for show. Defense is for winning share dough?
