the    sides

The last 3 days have been crazy - both personally and for the Broncos.

Let’s recap…

1. Denver trades Tatum Bell, George Foster for Dre’ Bly, CB…who by the way, would rather play in Washington. To which I ask - why? Bly should be tested for drugs and his agent should slap him upside his head. Of course coming from Detroit, everything is an upgrade.

Reports are that Washington still wants him, blah blah blah. I personally can’t see Shannahan keeping Bly if this continues. While it would be FREAKIN’ AWESOME to have both Bailey and Bly in the defensive backfield, Shanny hates locker room tension. Could be another trade in the works.

2. Denver sign Travis Henry, RB. Mixed feelings here. Clearly he was the best back available in terms of free agency. I like him more than Thomas Jones of the Bears. He doesn’t fumble. He’s a one-cut back. He’s also had a knee injury and been busted twice on the NFL drug policy.

Is he the answer? No. 2 guards and a tackle would have been a better answer but hey - like the aggressiveness and no one can accuse the Broncos of just trying to play it safe. With him and Mike Bell - there are two backs that will wear the living daylights out of a defense.

3. Denver misses Patrick Kearney, DE. Seattle swoops in and does to Denver what Denver normally does to other team. That would have been a MONSTER signing. Alas, Kearney prefers rain and teal to snow and orange. He’s from Atlanta so again - anything other than Detroit would have been an upgrade.

4. Denver signs Daniel Graham, TE. A weird signing on one hand. Does Denver really need another TE? Tony Scheffler played great during the back half of the season, proving to be one of Cutler’s favorite targets.

But this might turn out to be a huge signing for a few reasons.

First, If you can’t sign a guard, a huge blocking TE that can catch is the next best option. And Graham can catch and he can block.

Second, running two TE sets. If you have two TE’s who can stretch the field, can catch, and can block - play action pass becomes almost unbeatable. Most defenses have a linebacker that can run with a TE. I can think of only 2 that have the ‘backers to run with 2 (San Diego, Chicago). Add that to a top 8 running game - lots of clock time and lots of points.

Third, young QB’s love TEs. Give a young QB 2 he can throw to - plus a back out of the backfield, plus Javon Walker - going to be a fun offense to run and watch.

As always - time will tell. If the signings don’t gel, don’t show up, and don’t perform - the Broncos will become the Washington Redskins of the AFC. If they do…just pencil them in for 12 wins.