Horse Tracks: Five potential cap cuts for the Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos have some tough decisions to make this offseason. General Manager John Elway has already made some big changes to the teams coaching staff, and now will set his sights to the roster. ESPN's Jeff Legwold doesn't believe that John Elway is going to let as many free agents walk as he did last offseason.

"We like our roster, we like where we are with the moves we've made,'' Elway said. "We're always looking to improve and will bring in any player we think is an improvement over guys we have, but we have some of our own guys coming up and we want to do what we can there.''

According to Over The Cap, the Denver Broncos currently have $ 26,044,918 in cap space and could go up an extra 10 to 15 million when the cap rises this offseason. With free agents like Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Terrance Knighton, Orlando Franklin and others the Broncos will need as much cap space as possible to re-sign these players.

To free up some money, Denver could look at releasing some overpriced players who aren’t worth their cap number in 2015.

So let's take a look at what players the Broncos could part ways with this offseason.

1. Offensive Tackle, Chris Clark

Chris Clark replaced the injured Ryan Clady in the lineup in 2013 and protected Peyton Manning's blindside all the way to the Super Bowl. He earned the starting right tackle job this past season because of the effort. However, Clark was quickly benched in favor for reserve tackle Paul Cornick. After that, Clark was often listed as inactive and only rejoined the active list after Cornick suffered an injury.

Clark is an alright pass blocker but struggles mightily in the run game. With Gary Kubiak bringing his run-based offense back to Denver, Clark's struggles makes him a poor fit in Kubiak's offense.

2015 Cap Hit: $1.6 million

Dead Money: $225,666

2. Guard/Center, Manny Ramirez

Rameriz started the regular season as the starting center for the Broncos but moved to right guard after Louis Vasquez moved from right guard to right tackle.

Rameriz was a decent run blocker but often struggled protecting Peyton Manning. With Manning turning 39 years old, the Broncos will need to cut down on the interior pressure. Also, I do not think Rameriz is a good fit in Gary Kubiak's zone blocking scheme.

Also working against him is his high cap number. With Rameriz probably not being a starter, I would expect the Broncos to part ways with him this offseason.

2015 Cap Hit: $3.1 million

Dead Money: $166,668

3. Wide Receiver, Andre Caldwell

With the Denver Broncos more than likely using more two tight end sets under Head Coach Gary Kubiak, Caldwell is probably on the outside looking in.

The Broncos will more than likely retain wide receiver Demaryius Thomas this offseason and will also have Emmanuel Sanders, and last season's second round choice Cody Latimer already on the roster.

Caldwell did not live up to his price tag last season, and often disappointed as a receiver and kick returner.

2015 Cap Number: $1.55 million

Dead Money: $200,000

4. Punter, Britton Colquitt

Britton Colquitt is currently the fourth highest paid punter in 2015. Is Colquitt worth that amount of money?

Colquitt did not live up to his price tag In 2014. Colquitt’s net punt yardage of 3,048 (24th), long punt of 65 yards (21st), number of punt touchbacks (22nd) and yards per punt of 44.17 (26th) all rank near the bottom of the league.

Colquitt is a fine punter, but he has not lived up to his price tag. There's a chance that he may take a pay cut, but I ultimately believe the Broncos will part ways with their punter.

2015 Cap Hit: $3.75 million

Dead Money: $1.5 million

5. Defensive Tackle, Sylvester Williams

This one could be a surprise.

Former first round pick Sylvester Williams is not a great fit for Wade Phillip's 3-4 defense. He doesn't have the size or strength to be a nose tackle in the 3-4, nor does he have the size to be a 5-technique defensive end. William's is just an odd fit for the 3-4 defense.

William's has also been a bit of a disappointment since being the Broncos first round pick in 2013. This past season Williams failed to register a single sack after totaling two his rookie year. William's has failed to be the player the Broncos thought he would be after they spent a first-round pick on him.

Now the likelihood of this happening is pretty slim. William's has a high dead money number, and the Broncos did just spend a first-round pick two seasons ago. It will be interesting to see what the Broncos do with him. I think they would explore trading him before considering releasing him.

2015 Cap Number: $2.06 million

Dead Money: $3.04 million

Give C.J. Anderson a follow on Twitter

Consider this a public service announcement: C.J. Anderson's new Twitter handle is @cjandersonb22. http://t.co/MIJKWD8m2c

— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) February 6, 2015

I know not everyone uses twitter but for the ones that do let's give our starting running back some more followers and twitter love.

Horse Tracks:

• Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers blames the Tampa Bay Buccaneers turf for his calf injury.
• Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin has been fined for his touchdown celebration during the Super Bowl.
• Tight end Rob Gronkowski and linebacker Bruce Irvin both have been fined for their scuffle at the end of the Super Bowl.
• Houston Texan's Head Coach Bill O'Brien is looking for some quarterback competition this offseason.
• Green Bay Packers receiver Randall Cobb future with the team is uncertain.
• Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson says that he "got a fair" reinstatement hearing on Friday.
• Pittsburgh Steelers running back LeVeon Bell has been sentenced to 15 months probation and has had his license suspended.
• Drug charges against Dallas Cowboy's running back Joseph Randle have been dropped.
• The Oakland Raiders have hired Ken Norton to run the team's defense in 2015.
• Free agent guard Richie Incognito is visiting the Buffalo Bills and is expected to sign with them.