In advance of the free agency period, the Denver Broncos have stepped up their scrutiny of possible starting quarterback candidates, and have granted incumbent Brian Griese permission to speak with other franchises about a potential trade.

The Broncos on Wednesday announced that they have formally apprised agent Ralph Cindrich and league officials in writing that Griese is free to speak to other teams.

	Griese

ESPN.com reported Tuesday night that such a move was coming.

The Broncos would prefer to trade Griese, the starter for the last four years but a player who has fallen into disfavor within the organization, rather than to release him and get nothing in return.

If the Broncos don't get an acceptable trade offer for Griese, they will wait until after June 1 to release him, to somewhat soften the salary cap impact.

As has been the case the entire offseason, Cindrich again declined Tuesday to discuss the future of his client.

"There is nothing to be gained," Cindrich said, "by talking about this yet. I could say something generic, but what good does that do anyone?"

Sources said that, out of respect for Griese, head coach Mike Shanahan will attempt to facilitate a trade and will not be unreasonable in his expectations.

Shanahan decided at the conclusion of the '02 season that Griese, 27, would not be retained. There have been rumors that the Broncos will attempt to add Arizona Cardinals veteran quarterback Jake Plummer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on Friday.

By eventually allowing Griese and Cindrich to speak with other teams, the Broncos will in essence be providing the quarterback an opportunity to get some feeling for where the five-year veteran might fit in and to negotiate a new contract, one more palatable than his existing deal.

There are between 5-7 teams with unsettled quarterback situations and who might be interested in Griese as their starter.

Denver signed Griese to a six-year, $39 million contract in April of 2001, with that deal including a club-record $12.6 million signing bonus. There are four years left on that contract and, only if they waited until after June 1 and released Griese then would Denver be able to somewhat soften the impact on its 2003 salary cap.

If the Broncos were able to trade Griese, he would still count about $9.26 million against the team's 2003 salary cap. That would be a cap increase of nearly $2 million more than his current $7.265 million cap value.

A third-round choice in the '99 draft, Griese played in just one contest as a rookie, then won the starting job the following season.

The son of Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese has appeared in 53 games and started 51 of them. Last season, he appeared in and started 13 games and completed 291 of 436 passes for 3,214 yards, with 15 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. In the last two seasons, Griese has 38 touchdown passes but 34 interceptions.

Griese has suffered through some shoulder problems and a series of off-field incidents did not sit well with Broncos management.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.