The conventional wisdom was that when the Dolphins signed Broncos running back C.J. Anderson to a restricted free agent offer sheet, he was all but theirs.
But with a day left for Broncos executive John Elway to make a decision, it might be closer than many thing.
According to Peter King of TheMMQB.com, it’s not a lock that the Broncos simply won’t match, and let Anderson walk away to Miami.
The four-year, $18 million offer sheet is well beyond the $2.553 million tender the Broncos could have used to keep Anderson as an RFA (as no one would have given up a second-round pick and the money for a back who has yet to carry the ball 200 times in a season).
But while the Dolphins made the deal front-loaded to make it harder to match, the Broncos have also seen quite the exodus of players lately.
With potential big-ticket items such as Brock Osweiler and Malik Jackson elsewhere, the Broncos have the flexibility to match, even if it’s at a number far beyond what they could have or should have spent.