The Denver Broncos were active in free agency in the 2023 offseason, signing nine players to deals at least two years in length and several to significant sums.
Today, I’m going to revisit the contract grades I gave for the multi-year deals and compare them to how I would grade their return on investment with one season in the books.
Keep in mind that a low contract grade doesn’t necessarily mean the player himself is bad. Rather, it indicates that the player got paid more than he is worth.
Similarly, a player with a good contract grade isn’t necessarily a top player, but rather one who gave a good return on investment.
Original grade: B+
After one season: C+
Powers signed a four-year, $52 million contract and got $15M in the first year of the deal. His Over the Cap valuation sits at less than $6M.
This made the deal an overpay based on his first season. Powers has beeninconsistent throughout Year 1, though he did have several quality games.
The reality was that the guard market got inflated, likely because of the massive five-year, $100M deal the Atlanta Falcons gave to Chris Lindstrom (who also didn’t live up to his deal). We’ll see if Powers can play better next season, but he does need more consistent play to justify this contract.