Broncos' salary cap now manageable after Peyton Manning's retirement

The Denver Broncos were getting ready to make an uncomfortable decision regarding Peyton Manning and his $19 million contract for 2016. Being about $2 million over the salary cap for the 2016 league year, Manning's contract was the obvious one that needed to be resolved before free agency began March 9th. Since Manning is retiring, the Broncos won't get hit with any of that money, freeing up a lot of room under their salary cap.

The obvious place where that money could go is to another quarterback, Brock Osweiler. The Broncos have reportedly offered Oz a three-year deal worth an average of $15 million per season. There's no doubt Osweiler could command more than that in the open market, but it seems like a fair and generous deal for a player with only seven career starts.

The issue is that the QB market is frenzied; with Sam Bradford getting $18 million per year, who knows what Osweiler would command in free agency. Will the Broncos stretch themselves further to accommodate Osweiler's demands and prevent him from hitting free agency? We'll have to wait and see.