The buzzword for the Broncos entering free agency is “opportunistically aggressive.”

Owner Greg Penner offered that term after Denver’s season ended in January with a 10-7 loss to New England in the AFC Championship Game. And with free agency getting underway this week, the Broncos will be ready to pounce on a player to fit a need but might not want to break the bank to do it.

“I think that if the right player is there, they have the flexibility to do stuff, especially if they see somebody they want that maybe fell through the cracks,’’ salary-cap expert Jason Fitzgerald said Saturday. “But maybe it’s not an insane offer.”

Fitzgerald, who runs the website OverTheCap.com, lists the Broncos as having $24.475 million cap room entering the free-agent negotiating period that gets underway at 10 a.m. Monday. The new league year, when players officially can sign deals, starts at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

With the salary cap having been set at $301.2 million, the Broncos are in the middle of the pack in the NFL when it comes to room. But there are several things they can do, if needed, to carve out more room, most notably by converting big base salaries to signing bonuses.

“They’re pretty much fine,’’ Fitzgerald said of Denver’s cap situation. “They’ve had a proactive nature of getting ahead in the game.”

The Broncos, coming off a 14-3 season, are hardly in a desperation mode entering free agency thanks to all the top players they have signed since last summer to extensions. They locked up wide receiver Courtland Sutton, defensive lineman Zach Allen, outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, center Luke Wattenberg, defensive lineman Malcolm Roach and kicker Wil Lutz.

“Just think if we didn’t get those guys wrapped up what we’d be facing,’’ general manager George Paton said last month at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, while also making note of some extensions signed before last summer. “Every offseason is a little, ‘Wow, how are we going to feed?’ But if we didn’t have all those guys done, just think of how much more daunting the offseason would be. It’s really important to get ahead of it.”

Nevertheless, the Broncos still have some needs this offseason that head coach Sean Payton called “musts” at the combine. He named three at running back, tight end and inside linebacker.

At running back, the Broncos return RJ Harvey, a second-round pick in 2025 who rushed for 540 yards as a rookie but averaged just 3.7 yards per carry. He took over when J.K. Dobbins was lost for the season with a foot injury after rushing for 772 yards in the first 10 games. Dobbins is an impending free agent.

Dobbins had a cap number last season of $2.065 million. Fitzgerald doesn’t see him signing for much more for 2026 due to his prolonged injury history but said a team could hand out a deal loaded with incentives.

Dobbins has said he wants to re-sign with Denver, but it remains to be seen if that will happen. If the Broncos seek to sign an outside free agent, the list at running back is headed by Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl MVP last month for Seattle. But Fitzgerald expects Walker to command around $12 million a season, and that might be too much for a team in which Payton relies on a two-back attack.

In addition to Walker, other 1,000-yard backs from last season available are Jacksonville’s Travis Etienne and Carolina’s Rico Dowdle. Houston’s Joe Mixon has five career 1,000-yard rushing seasons but missed all of last season with a foot injury.

At tight end, the Broncos thought Evan Engram would be the answer after they signed him as a free agent last March. Engram, though, had a so-so campaign, catching 50 passes for 461 yards with just one touchdown. But he insists he will be better in 2026, telling The Denver Gazette his workout schedule in the 2025 offseason was curtailed while recovering from shoulder surgery.

If the Broncos look to make another free-agency splash at tight end, top candidates available are Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert, Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely and Cleveland’s David Njoku.

At inside linebacker, plenty will depend on what the Broncos do with impending free agents Alex Singleton, a starter who has called the defensive plays, and top reserve Justin Strnad. Strnad told The Denver Gazette he wants to be a full-time starter and it would be difficult to return to Denver if Singleton is also re-signed. Fitzgerald estimates Singleton, 32, could command a short-term deal worth around $7 million in 2026.

Top free-agent linebackers available include Jacksonville’s Devin Lloyd, Cleveland’s Devin Bush, Detroit’s Alex Anzalone and Buffalo’s Matt Milano.

The Broncos, though, need more help on offense than on defense. While Payton has talked about liking what he has in his wide receiver room, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they go after a playmaker at that position. Top free agents available include Alec Pierce of Indianapolis, Miami’s Tyreek Hill, Seattle’s Rashid Shaheed, San Francisco’s Jauan Jennings and Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs.

Pierce, who had 47 catches in 2025 for 1,003 yards for an NFL-high average of 21.3, might carry too much of a price tag for the Broncos. Then again, they do have ways to create more cap money.

Fitzgerald noted that with “basic” restructures of contracts, the Broncos could carve out about $11 million with guard Quinn Meinerz, $10 million with tackle Mike McGlinchey, $8 million with defensive tackle D.J. Jones, $7.5 million with outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper and $5 million with cornerback Pat Surtain II. It doesn’t take the consent of a player to have his base salary converted into a signing bonus spread out over multiple years.

“They haven’t touched anybody yet (with a restructure),” Fitzgerald said. “But if they see a guy they want (in free agency), they can agree on a contract and then can create the cap room.”

After all, the Broncos are planning to be “opportunistically aggressive.”