ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos have one of the longer lists of free agents in the league, and just over a week out from the formal opening of the NFL's festival of checks, it’s a good time to take a one-a-day look at some of the impending Broncos' free agents.

Today: Rahim Moore

Wednesday: Virgil Green

The Broncos find themselves in a quirky spot with Moore and his impending free agency. On one hand, the Broncos had the three other starting defensive backs -- cornerback Chris Harris Jr., cornerback Aqib Talib, and safety T.J. Ward -- all play in the Pro Bowl. And each of those three Pro Bowlers is under contract for at least for the next three seasons.

However, it was Moore who played more snaps this past season -- 1,054, which was 51 more than Ward -- and he would have played the most snaps in 2013 as well had he not gone to injured reserve in November of that season.

So, the Broncos have liked Moore enough to have played him more than any other defender on the roster this past season, but they might not like him enough to keep him since they already have three high-dollar, long-term contracts in that position group.

So Moore joins the sure-we'd-like-him-back free agents the Broncos have, a list that includes defensive tackle Terrance Knighton and tight end Virgil Green, and now it’s just a matter of whether the budget allows the team to offer Moore the kind of contract that is competitive from what he can likely receive elsewhere. Or as executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway has said, "we have to see where the number is and what the budget is and who fits for us."

Last month coach Gary Kubiak said of Moore; "He’s played well ... he played very well. The defense played well ... and we’ll have to see how the other one works out, but we’d love to have him back."

From a football standpoint, Moore's position in the defense might be in flux as the decision of what to do at free safety still has to be made by the incoming defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. Especially since, in these pass-happy times, the defense is spending the majority of the time in the nickel package -- five defensive backs.

That also means they are trying to find enough quality coverage players who can hold up in 1-on-1 matchups in space and still keep enough disciplined tacklers on the field to defend the run. Offenses have tried, with some success, to put the Broncos in the nickel on early downs and pound away in the run game against the lighter formation.

It means the Broncos could be, at least in some situational work, looking for more of a hybrid cornerback/safety type to man the free safety spot on some downs. So, instead of player piling up more than 1,000 snaps as Moore did, they might be looking at more of a mix and match approach, but none of that gets worked out until they actually get to put players through the paces on the field.

And the Broncos don’t get on the field until long after free agency opens. So, they can only plan right now, and the odds are a big part of that plan will be what they want to do after Moore moves on.