The Defensive Purge of 2009!

2009 will go down as the year when the Broncos fired their 14 year head coach Mike Shanahan.  It will go down as the year that they hired a 32 year old head coach by the name of Josh McDaniels.  It will go down as the year when we learned that Pat Bowlen has a back bone, by saying no to a new practice facility that Shanahan had requested.  

However, the most significant event of 2009 will be the complete overhaul of the defense that has been the achilles heel for the last decade.  Seven defensive coaches have been let go, including the incompetent Bob Slowick.  Six “key” players on the Broncos 2008 defense were released: Dre Bly, Dewayne Robertson, Marquand Manuel, John Engelberger, Niko Koutouvides and Jamie Winborn.  Nate Webster, Marlon McCree and Karl Paymah are not expected to be resigned.  And Kenny Peterson and Ebenezer Ekuban may also be pushed out the door.  There may be only TEN players from the ‘08 defense who end up on the ‘09 opening day roster.

What has all of this “cutting the fat” achieved?  Assuming that the salary cap is raised to $123 million, the Broncos will have $38 million dollars to play with.  This will allow the Orange and Blue to go after a number of defensive free agents, who fit the 3-4 defense, including defensive line stars Igor Olshansky of San Diego or  Chris Canty of Dallas, linbackers Channing Crowder of the Dolphins or Bart Scott from the Ravens, and secondary studs Phillip Buchanon of the Bucs, if he doesn’t get a franchise label, or Domonique Foxworth of the Falcons.

Furthermore the Broncos has stock pile of draft picks including the number 12th pick overall.  Many experts believe that the Broncos may target USC linebacker Ray Maualuga or Boston College DT BJ Raji.  Both would be great additions, however, don’t sleep on Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins, who would be a great complement to Champ.

So ten months from now when we are looking back at 2009, Broncos fans will defiantly remember the Defensive Purge of ‘09.  Not even Nostradamus could predict what the 2009 defense is going to look like.  However, if a few chips fall the right way this defensive make-over may pave the way for the first respectable defense in over a decade, which could finally lead the Broncos to the promise land… THE PLAYOFFS!