Congratulations, Broncos. You've won the Super Bowl and now you have to pay to keep all of your best players.
Like all good championship teams, there will be a purge from outsiders with money to spend in free agency. And linebacker Brandon Marshall, a restricted free agent in 2016, could be one of those players depending on how general manager John Elway handles it.
"I would definitely love my bank account to grow in these next few months -- I would love that," Marshall said Friday on NFL HQ. "Me and my agent have been talking, we'll see what happens. But I would love to stay in Denver. I grew up a Broncos fan. I love the Broncos. I love the organization and community, so I'd love to stay in Denver. We'll definitely see what happens."
Marshall, a former fifth-round pick, is only 26 years old and has been an unsung hero for the Broncos all season long. There are maybe two or three inside linebackers in football who had a better year than Marshall.
Now, the hard part comes.
Marshall likely will be subjected to some sort of tagging process, either with an original-round, second-round or first-round tender. This way, Denver can protect themselves if another team blows Marshall away with an offer sheet. The team is expected to have a little more than $7 million in salary-cap space, and it still has to work out deals with Von Miller, Malik Jackson, Brock Osweiler, C.J. Anderson, David Bruton and more.
While this is not typical, it could happen. Marshall is a star at his position and he'll want to see the money sooner rather than later. Having a deal that takes him into his 30s sounds about right, especially for a player that has had 75 or more tackles each of the past two seasons. Marshall started 30 of his last 32 regular-season games.
