ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As a player, John Elway never got to experience free agency.
He never hit the open market, never got released and never got to be somebody else's solution to a football problem. As an executive entering his seventh season as the Denver Broncos' chief football decision-maker, Elway has said he doesn't think free agency is the best way to build a roster.
There no such thing as mad money or impulse buys. Free agents have to fill a need that didn't get covered in a draft, perhaps a developmental hole on the depth chart. Or as Elway has put it: "to get a guy who has proven what he can do and has a little chip on his shoulder who can come in and prove what he can be, that he can add to your football team and make it as competitive as possible to get on the field."
And Elway has always added, "And I like guys with chips on their shoulders."
Not all team's swings in free agency have worked out, but since 2012 they have signed five free agents who have gone to at least one Pro Bowl during their Broncos' tenure. That list will forever be led by Peyton Manning, who led a historical four-year run that concluded with a Super Bowl 50 win.
Jamaal Charles' arrival, on a one-year deal agreed to Tuesday, isn't in that category. No one is saying it is. But if the Broncos are right and if good fortune smiles on them just a little, they get a player who can add impact on offense.
Charles is 30 -- turning 31 on Dec. 27 -- and he's suffered a torn ACL tear in each knee, the most recent in 2015. He had additional arthroscopic procedures on both knees last season as finished on injured reserve in Kansas City.
This isn't about the Broncos signing a potential No. 1 back. This is about the Broncos trying to repair one of the 2016 season's biggest ills -- a running game that was far more burden than beneficial.
Signing Charles in free agency is about exploring every avenue to cure that ill, even if it's trying to figure out if a four-time Pro Bowl selection has something left. The Broncos gave Charles' knees a long look before making a deal.
If it all works out for Charles, he could earn as much as $3.75 million next season and then go back into the market. If it all works out for the Broncos, they have a variety of backs -- C.J. Anderson, Devontae Booker, De'Angelo Henderson, Bernard Pierce and now Charles -- to construct the running game under coordinator Mike McCoy's offense. There likely won't be room for them all -- especially since fullback Andy Janovich is on the final 53-man roster -- when things get settled after training camp.
If Charles' knees don't cooperate, this is a painless experiment for the Broncos. No harm, no roster foul. But if Charles' knees do cooperate, if he can add some carries here, some receptions there, suddenly the Broncos have a player in the offense who has averaged at least five yards a carry for eight seasons.
By contrast, the Broncos don't have a back on the roster who has averaged five yards a carry for even one season of full-time duty.
The Broncos will cross their fingers over a one-year contract and hope for the best -- because Charles is a low-risk gamble that just might offer the kind of reward their offense needs.