Report: Broncos negotiating with Malik Jackson

The Denver Broncos are working on a new deal with Malik Jackson.

After winning Super Bowl 50 less than two weeks ago, the Denver Broncos are trying to keep their excellent defense together. After signing defensive end Derek Wolfe during the season to a four-year, $36 million contract extension, general manager John Elway is now trying to sign his partner in crime.

Malik Jackson is one of the better 3-4 defensive ends in the league, and is slated to hit free agency on March 9. Mike Klis of the Denver Post is reporting that the Broncos are working hard to keep Jackson in town, although the expectation is that he is still going to test the open market.

Denver is in a tough cap position. The Broncos only have approximately $7 million in cap space and have a litany of players to sign including quarterback Brock Osweiler, linebackers Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall, guard Evan Mathis, outside linebacker Von Miller and running backs Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson.

All that said, cap relief should be coming in the form of Peyton Manning’s retirement, which opens up $19 million. Also, Elway could cut Ryan Clady and save another $9 million. DeMarcus Ware’s release would also net $10 million, but he might be too valuable to cut. Unfortunately for Denver, a large chunk of that savings will go to Osweiler and the cap hit incurred by placing the franchise tag on Miller. Once you factor in the draft class, those three items alone could cost near $25 million.