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2011 seemed to be the emergence of the tight end in the NFL. Several tight ends made a lot of big plays in key situations for teams changing the way offenses ran. Daniel Fells was the Broncos starting tight end. Should he come back?
OVERVIEW:
Daniels Fells spent the last three seasons with the Rams as a reserve tight end only starting 11 games in three seasons. He was an undrafted college free agent who started with Atlanta. He came to the Broncos as a free agent signing immediately after the end of the lockout.
2011 SEASON:
Daniel Fells at times this season came up big for the Broncos. The numbers do not look too impressive but Fells was a large part of the Broncos late season charge. He was strong in run blocking which is the reason he was the starter over Julius Thomas and Virgil Green. He came up with a monster catch against Miami that allowed the Broncos to come back in that game.
In 2011 Daniel Fells made $1.5 million and the cap hit was the same. If the Broncos could bring Fells back for that much it might be worth it but he might command a little bit more if he is going to stay in this type of offense where he is limited as a pass catcher.
The franchise tag number for a tight end this season would probably be in the $5.5 million range so that would not be worth it for the Broncos to take that route. Fells' production was not worth that much when it could be used on an upgrade somewhere.
WHAT TO DO?
I think the Broncos should part ways with Daniel Fells. Although he made some great plays for us this season, an upgrade has to be available somewhere. I believe someone like Jermichael Finley or John Carlson would be more of an upgrade worth the multi-millions that Fells might want to stay here. We have two young tight ends and it could even be addressed again in the draft if the right player is there.