The springs are different than the opener. I don’t think the springs can be disconnected, they have to be carefully removed. You would know if they were or were broken, because you couldn’t open the garage door.
Side-mounted extension springs can be easily disconnected with the door up (and ideally clamped). GP describing them as "not connected to anything" makes me suspect that they're extension springs, which can be easily/casually inspected and determined to be not hooked up to anything. Torsion springs you probably need to look to see the marks on the spring wind up (or make a straight chalk mark on it and see if that twists uniformly).
