Don’t shop in the bargain bin if you want a franchise player. That’s the truth of free agency, and it’s playing out once again. Some teams try to nickel-and-dime through negotiations, betting on discounts instead of dominance. Others see an opportunity and put their money where their mouth is. And land game-changers who tilt the field in their favor. In the end, the teams that hesitated to spend dollars often watch from the sidelines, seeing others put wins in their column.

Kyle Shanahan’s Niners tried to cut corners with Dre Greenlaw, but it backfired. The LB had been a key player in San Francisco’s defense, but his injury-riddled season made the Niners lowball him. Enter Sean Payton and the Broncos management, who were in the free market looking for players to build their defensive line. They found Dre Greenlaw and offered him a deal. And more recently, they signed other players coming off an injury, Jaguars TE Evan Engram and Talanoa Hufanga, also from San Fran. The Broncos signing players coming off injuries in free agency has analysts divided over their offseason strategy. Some think Payton made a savvy bet, while others think they just made a mess signing a bunch of players with injury concerns.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes that the Broncos had a productive offseason this year. “I think they killed it! I think they hit free agency just right.” Schefter believes the Broncos made the right moves by bringing in players they had been searching for. “Engram is the kind of player they’ve been looking for in this offense for a while, and he’s immensely talented… I’ve seen the video, watched him with the Giants, and the great season with Jacksonville.”

Sean Payton’s team did manage to sign Greenlaw and Hufanga for far less than their market value, but the problem is that if they don’t stay healthy, the savings won’t matter. Marcus Mosher from The 33rd Team believes that signing Hufanga wasn’t even necessary. The safety position isn’t as valuable as other positions on defense. So, Mosher ranked this move by the Broncos as the ninth worst in this year’s free agency.

So, while criticism is being thrown the Broncos‘ way, what’s even more interesting is that the Niners tried to get Dre back.

Kyle Shanahan’s late-game audible didn’t work

And the interesting thing is that although Dre’s contract is officially a three-year deal, only the first year of the deal is guaranteed. So, in a way, you could say that the Broncos committed to paying him $11.5 million for one season only. If he does not stay healthy, they can move on from him without any financial penalties.

Now, that’s where San Francisco thinks they messed up. They could have gotten the same deal done with the LB. But instead, they first offered him a one-year contract that was even less than $11.5 million. Adam Schefter reported that Kyle Shanahan and the team tried to reach out to Dre after he had signed the deal with Denver. “You know, the Niners were trying to get back to Greenlaw even after Denver had an agreement done with him. They were pushing to get that done.”

Now, you cannot have your cake and eat it too. The Niners have already made what some may call ‘big missteps’ this offseason. Last week, they released and cut 12 of their veteran key players from the roster. Now it will be interesting to see how their offseason moves shape up in the long run.