For sanity’s sake, the Broncos could use a friendly game of touch football.
A few hours of running around on grass, tossing the ball around, mixing in some pushes, shoves and laughs.
Anything to get away from the madness of trying to conduct football as a business from behind a front office.
No team has attacked the NFL’s roster-enhancing offseason period with more vigor than the Broncos. They have been determined, creative, aggressive and bold.
And with nearly every turn they have been met with the luck of an Irishman the morning after St. Patrick’s Day. What a headache.
The latest frustration came Friday, when the trade that would have sent defensive captain Al Wilson to the New York Giants in exchange for a draft pick and salary-cap relief was aborted when the middle linebacker flunked his physical.
This hasn’t been the offseason of trade for the Broncos. It has been the offseason of trade with strings attached.
“Tumultuous is the first word that comes to mind,” said Broncos cornerback Domonique Foxworth. “There’s been so many extremes – great gains and great losses. We’ve lost not only players, but people. There might have been more ups and downs in our offseason than there was in our season.”
Consider: The Broncos traded Jake Plummer to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a fourth-round draft pick, only to have the quarterback retire.
The Broncos acquired Dré Bly from the Detroit Lions, only to learn the cornerback preferred a deal to the Washington Redskins. They acquired defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson from the Miami Dolphins, only to have “Big Daddy” balk over issues with his knee and possibly his desires to play a 14th season in the NFL.
Goodness. Of course, these transaction hiccups have been only mildly discouraging next to the tragedies the Broncos have encountered. The franchise went 47 years without having a player on its active roster die. This offseason, the Broncos attended two funerals in two months to mourn the deaths of Darrent Williams and Damien Nash, who were both 24 years old and had just completed their second NFL seasons.
Despite it all, the Broncos’ front office morphed into the personality of Mike Shanahan, the team’s steely coach and football operations boss, and relentlessly persevered. A much cleaner voyage was discovered in free agency, where Denver picked up Travis Henry, a potential 1,500-yard rusher in the Broncos’ vaunted zone- blocking system; Daniel Graham, a former University of Colorado star who is considered among the league’s best two-way tight ends; and Alvin McKinley, a starting defensive tackle with the Cleveland Browns who offsets the uncertainty of Wilkinson.
The Broncos also considerably strengthened their reserves by signing quarterback Patrick Ramsey, wide receiver Brandon Stokley and guard Montrae Holland.
Add up the good against the setbacks and the Broncos came away with quite a haul, especially if they reach conclusive peace with Bly.
“I have all respect for our front- office people and Coach Shana- han. They’ve put together one of the best teams in the NFL throughout the years and it’s not by coincidence,” Foxworth said.
Up next is the NFL draft. At this point, the most shocking move the hyperactive Broncos could make April 28 is if they sit still with their No. 21 overall pick.
Shanahan, his coaching staff, front-office executives and scouts will gather for extensive draft meetings beginning April 2, which also marks the start of the players’ offseason workouts.
At the very least, Shanahan and his assistants can go outside and watch their team play on the grass.
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
