AFC West News And Rumors: Raiders, Chiefs Lose Their Own; Denver Adds Big Names; Chargers Quiet

January 19, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib (31) is led off the field after suffering an injury against the Denver Broncos in the 2013 AFC Championship football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

DENVER BRONCOS

Signings: CB Aqib Talib (six years, $57 million with $26 million guaranteed), S T.J. Ward (four years, $23 million with $14 million guaranteed), WR Andre Caldwell (two years, $3.45 million)

Cap Space: $26 million (Does not include Tuesday’s signings.)

Now is probably a bad time to mention DeMarcus Ware is expected to sign with the Denver Broncos sometime soon, isn’t it? (Update: LB Jon Beason is also a target of theirs.)

There is no sugar-coating this, the Denver Broncos were/are/going to be the clear favorite to win the AFC again in 2014 and go to the Super Bowl. Are there things to poke at like Talib and Ware’s injury history and Denver’s cap issues heading into 2015? Sure. Those are all hypotheticals at this point, however.

Assuming health, the Broncos were/are/going to be the best team on paper and probably on the field in 2014. There was little the Chiefs could have done to stop this from happening. There was no move or moves the Chiefs could have made this off-season for them to leap-frog the Broncos. Denver clearly showed Tuesday they are all in to win now, no matter the cost.

Denver is still going to have some issues at linebacker they are going to need to solve and they are going to want to add some offensive line depth. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if the Broncos make another big name acquisition after they (we assume) close the deal with Ware. Brace for it now so it won’t sting as much when it happens later.

The good news is Peyton Manning won’t be around forever. And when he leaves Kansas City should be in a position Denver is now.