Former Super Bowl champion and Broncos safety Darian Stewart was a huge part of the "No-Fly Zone" that won the team a Super Bowl in 2015. However, his play over this last season was much less than stellar. While he had tight coverage and was a major reason that the Broncos had a top tier pass defense the last two seasons, he was the reason the Broncos got beat over the top this season.
Stewart's current contract runs through 2020 and is worth $28 million. Moving on from Stewart would incur $4.2 million in dead-money charges while saving just $1.7 million against the salary cap. If the team wants to save more money while getting rid of Stewart, the best way to go is designating him a post-June 1 cut, which would clear $4.5 million and leave behind only $1.4 million in dead money.
Stewart started his NFL career with the Rams (in St. Louis at the time) and played with the Ravens for one year before joining the Broncos in their Super Bowl year. He also made the Pro Bowl last season so he was clearly a good safety at one point.
