Broncos don't have a reason to use the tag this time around

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Tuesday is the first day NFL teams can use what some in the league consider the hammer in their toolbox for negotiations with high-profile free agents.

And few, if any, have used the franchise tag as often as the Denver Broncos have since John Elway became the team’s top football decision-maker in 2011. But with none of the marquee players up for free agency -- they do have some starters like tight end Virgil Green and linebacker Todd Davis set for the open market -- the Broncos will almost certainly sit out the franchise player gymnastics this time around.

That, as much, as anything else, is another indication of how far the Broncos have tumbled out of the playoff…