As Orlando Franklin entered unrestricted free agency for the first time, there was one thing that motivated his decision in finding a new team - familarity.

The former Denver Broncos offensive lineman signed a five-year contract with the San Diego Chargers this off-season, staying within the AFC West and reuniting with offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. Franklin worked under McCoy in his rookie and sophomore season in Denver before the now-head coach headed south to San Diego.

And when the Broncos failed to make him an offer to keep his services, Franklin’s familiarity with McCoy’s offence and experience with a veteran quarterback enticed him to California.

Peyton Manning and Orlando Franklin
Franklin spent three years blocking for Manning.

“Mike told me (the Charger’s offence) was very similar to what we were running there” Franklin explained to TSN.ca. “And just having a quarterback that was somewhat the caliber of Peyton Manning, that was definitely important to me also.”

Franklin, from Toronto, spent three years blocking for Manning after playing in front of Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow during his rookie season. In his four years with the Broncos, Franklin helped lead the franchise to a 49-18 regular season record. The 27-year-old also reached the playoffs in each of his first four seasons and by joining Rivers, he saw an opportunity to keep that streak alive.

“Phillip is a great quarterback," he said. "He’s awesome; he chucks that ball up and down the field. It looks to me that he understands defences and he understands concepts so that was a big part of (my decision), joining a team that was a contender - a team that has an opportunity to win a lot of football games and go to the next level."

Franklin saw that next level with the Broncos, who held a first-round bye in each of the past three seasons. Yet Denver's record in those playoff appearances under Manning was 2-3, including their 43-8 Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Despite the postseason disappointment, Franklin doesn’t look back at his time in Denver with any regret.

Franklin blocks Avril in Super Bowl XLVIII“At the end of the day, we won a lot of big time games in Denver. You can’t really look back at it and think that anything was disappointing. We went to the Super Bowl and yes, we lost by a big margin. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that a player such as Champ Bailey - who was in the NFL for 13 years - that was the first time he’d ever been to the Super Bowl.

“That was my third year in the league. Some people don’t get this opportunity ever, so you have to take that for what it’s worth and be grateful you had that opportunity.”

Among those ‘big time games’ the Broncos won with Franklin anchoring the right side of their offensive line were an overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers led by Tebow in 2011 and claiming the AFC title over the New England Patriots en route to Super Bowl XLVIII.

Reflecting on his Broncos career, Franklin looks back at that AFC Championship win as his favourite moment thus far.

“The confetti coming down and the stadium and the ceremony after when we won the AFC, it was amazing,” Franklin recalled of the 26-16 victory. “During the year they had beat us there and then at the end of the year we ended up beating them in Denver, so that was pretty awesome.”

In choosing the Chargers, Franklin added he’s eager to take on his former teammates twice a season.

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “I feel like those guys are great players and those guys are going to be great competition. There’s going to be a lot of trash talking during the game and stuff like that, so it’s going to be exciting.”Orlando Franklin

As to which ex-teammates Franklin figures matchup against, the versatile lineman said he will lineup at left guard for the Broncos. The 6-foot-6, 315 lb lineman spent the 2014 season playing the same position for the Broncos after lining up at right tackle for the first three seasons of his career.

Franklin said he remains open to moving if circumstance deem necessary, but is looking forward staying in one spot with the Chargers.

In a recent interview with the Chargers official website, Franklin said he had received an offer from another team that valued slightly higher than San Diego’s pitch, but he decided to turn it down.

Franklin confirmed to TSN.ca that the Buffalo Bills, who entered free agency in search of offensive line help, were not the team to make that offer.

“If Buffalo would have come after me, I definitely would have considered it,” said Franklin.

Franklin still spends a large portion of his offseason in Toronto, the city he moved to at the age of three. Buffalo, located just over two hours southeast of the city, could have offered a different form of familiarity.

“They didn’t really come at me and it was surprising," he admitted. "I thought they were, my agent thought they were going to be players also, but when it came down to it they really weren’t there.”

But even without an offer from the Bills or Broncos, Franklin enters his fifth NFL season in search of a fifth consecutive AFC West title - joining Charger wide receivers Steve Johnson and Jacoby Jones as new faces on the offence when the team opens training camp in the July.