Safety David Bruton will be eligible to sign anywhere in a few weeks, but he says his preference is to stay with the defending World Champions, as Cameron Wolfe of The Denver Post tweets. However, there figures to be a pretty healthy market for Bruton this spring. The Broncos safety tells Wolfe that he’s heard the Bears, Dolphins, and Giants are interested in him.
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Bruton could also be pricing himself out of Denver. The safety told Wolfe (link) that he is eyeing a three-year, $15MM deal like the one that Justin Bethel received from the Cardinals. With more pressing needs to address, it would be surprising to see the Broncos give him that sort of deal prior to the start of free agency or even early on that week. The Broncos project to have T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart at safety, so they can afford to let Bruton go if he does not fit into the budget.
Bruton was placed on IR in December after breaking his leg and, therefore, did not play in the Super Bowl. Remarkably, Bruton played through three quarters of a late-season tilt against the Steelers with a broken fibula and, by his own estimation, he could have played in SB50 had he been eligible (link). At this point, Bruton says he’s 100% and is already riding bikes and doing squats in preparation for next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
It would definitely be a surprise if Bruton received $5MM per season, considering what the Broncos would prefer to bring back and what that will cost. The second-longest-tenured Broncos cog, however, and a longtime special teams ace would fit the profile of someone willing to take a hometown discount. But if someone’s willing to pay him close to $5MM AAV (more than double Darian Stewart’s rate) or offer a clear path at a starting job, I can’t see Denver competing with that.
Kay von Webster will be the new david bruton for denver even though plays CB he had some huge special teams tackles in the playoffs that changed the field position
I like the player that Kayvon has developed into, but his true wealth on special teams is as a gunner (when he stays in-bounds). It takes years to develop as a special teams captain as an up-back like Bruton has, and with the injuries Stewart and Ward suffered down the stretch, he would have been great to have for the depth. He’s not a game-changing safety, but he’s worth $3.5M a year.