The Denver Broncos will enter free agency with 17 players freely able to leave the team. Safety Brian Dawkins will likely either retire or sign up with the Broncos for one more year.
Feb 8, 2012 - The Denver Broncos will enter the free agent period with 17 unrestricted free agents, three exclusive rights free agents and two restricted free agents. Mac's Football Blog has the entire breakdown of the list. The top name on the unrestricted list is most certainly Brian Dawkins. Previously thought to be under contract for the 2012 season, it now appears that his restructured deal eliminated that final year. With a serious neck injury, Dawkins will attempt to play one more season, but it's with the Broncos or no one else.
Kicker Matt Prater is also an unrestricted free agent, and one would suspect he would be a top priority for the team, especially after his late-game heroics with game-tying and -winning field goals to keep alive the so-called Tebow Time. Britton Colquitt is an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he has two years of experience and must take the veteran's minimum if offered to him by the Broncos. He is not a real free agent.
Brady Quinn is a free agent and is certainly a possibility to return, but that could just be a remote possibility. The team will need to also think about its defensive tackles since starters Brodrick Bunkley and Marcus Thomas are unrestricted free agents. Ty Warren and Kevin Vickerson will return from injury, but that would still leave a shallow pool of players there.
| Exclusive Rights | Restricted | Unrestricted |
| RB Lance Ball | WR Matt Willis | QB Brady Quinn |
| OT Chris Clark | DT Ryan McBean | FB Spencer Larsen |
| P Britton Colquitt | WR Eddie Royal | |
| TE Daniel Fells | ||
| TE Dante Rosario | ||
| OL Russ Hochstein | ||
| OL Manny Ramirez | ||
| DE Derrick Harvey | ||
| DE Jason Hunter | ||
| DT Brodrick Bunkley | ||
| DT Marcus Thomas | ||
| LB Mario Haggan | ||
| LB Joe Mays | ||
| LB Wesley Woodyard | ||
| CB Jonathan Wilhite | ||
| S Brian Dawkins | ||
| K Matt Prater |
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