Kenny Phillips Retires
Kenny Phillips‘ three-game comeback cameo with the Saints last season looks to have doubled as the safety’s final work as an NFL player. The 29-year-old defender told Christopher Stock of 247Sports.com he’s retired, citing injury issues.
A former first-round pick in 2008, Phillips played six seasons in the NFL, with an injury-induced two-season hiatus coming in between stays with the Giants and Saints.
Phillips enjoyed his best season for the 2011 Super Bowl champion Giants, intercepting four passes and making 82 tackles in the regular season and starting 19 of Big Blue’s 20 total contests during their most recent playoff campaign. The Miami Hurricanes product missed most of the 2009 season due to a knee injury that required microfracture surgery and sprained his left MCL in 2012, his final season in New York.
After signing with the Eagles in the ensuing offseason, Phillips struggled and didn’t make it past the preseason. The Saints offered Phillips a tryout in 2014 after he’d missed two seasons due to issues recovering from surgeries on both knees. They signed him to a reserve/futures contract after the 2014 season before deploying him in three games during the 2015 slate. Although Phillips started each of those contests, New Orleans released him last October once Jairus Byrd returned to full strength.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Police Investigating Brandon Browner For Assault
Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner has been named in a police report by the father-in-law of Browner’s girlfriend, Jayson Jenks of the Seattle Times reports. The man claims Browner assaulted him on Tuesday night.
The man claimed the 31-year-old cornerback assaulted him in the driveway of Browner’s Pomona, California, home, according to a police report. No charges have been filed yet, with the Pomona Police Department determining if enough evidence exists to justify a warrant for Browner’s arrest, Jenks reports.
Browner left the residence before police arrived, and the alleged victim refused medical treatment at the scene.
The veteran cornerback returned to the Seahawks this offseason after signing with the Saints in 2015. He endured a rough season in New Orleans after being part of two Super Bowl championship teams — the 2013 Seahawks and 2014 Patriots. Browner missed the 2013 playoffs because of an indefinite suspension due to the violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
The league reinstated the physical corner in March of 2014, however, Browner served a drug-related suspension to start the ’14 campaign. Browner is signed for a non-guaranteed $760K with the Seahawks but will count $4.05MM against the Saints’ cap this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AFC West Rumors: Broncos, Berry, Chargers
Both Von Miller and Eric Berry are on track to sign long-term extensions with their respective teams by next Friday, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com writes.
The Broncos and Chiefs have tagged players for the second straight year, with Denver’s negotiation taking on a higher-profile tone as Kansas City’s unfolds quietly. Corry sees the Broncos structuring a Miller deal in the same way the Eagles constructed Fletcher Cox‘s extension as the compromise necessary to finish the deal.
Denver’s offer of six years and $114.5MM has reportedly satisfied Miller’s camp, but its $38.5MM in fully guaranteed money hasn’t. In Cox’s six-year, $103MM extension, the converting defensive tackle will see $55MM fully guaranteed by next March. The Broncos moving up a portion of Miller’s guaranteed money to vest at the same time and giving the two-time All-Pro approximately $58MM by March of 2017 should be enough to induce a signing, Corry writes, with the former agent not buying the linebacker’s threats to sit out the season since no franchise-tagged player has missed an entire year since Chiefs defensive lineman Dan Williams in 1998.
As for the Chiefs’ current franchise player, Berry should sign for around the same amount as Harrison Smith (five years, $51.5MM), Corry notes. The Chiefs, as they did for several of their recent contract extensions, will likely backload that deal as well. Kansas City is up against the 2016 cap, with $1.17MM in space, so a Berry signing would alleviate that burden somewhat. However, it would add to the Chiefs’ bevy of commitments come 2017 since they stand to possess barely $4MM in space without a Berry deal on the books.
Weigh in with your thoughts on who will and won’t sign long-term deals in PFR’s latest Community Tailgate.
Here’s more from the AFC West.
- Denver’s impasse with Miller poses as unique since owner Pat Bowlen is not part of this negotiation, having been stricken with Alzheimer’s. This leaves the full decision up to John Elway, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Florio doubts Broncos president Joe Ellis will overrule Elway’s recommendations for the deal given the Denver GM’s track record. Elway called Miller over the weekend in an attempt to repair a relationship that’s taken some hits recently.
- The Broncos’ decision to move on from Evan Mathis after one year stemmed from the former All-Pro guard’s age and condition, Troy Renck of the Denver post writes. Now a Cardinals cog on a one-year deal similar to the one he signed in Denver last August, Mathis battled an ankle injury in 2015 and partook in a three-guard rotation with Louis Vasquez and Max Garcia before returning to full-time status in the playoffs.
- The Broncos will be more of a run-oriented team in 2016, Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com writes. A reliance on either Mark Sanchez or Paxton Lynch at quarterback points to a greater emphasis on a ground game that enjoyed an inconsistent 2015 season. “I don’t think there’s a question what coach [Gary Kubiak] wants to do,” C.J. Anderson said recently, via Legwold. “All you have to do is look out there and see a fullback running around … I mean, we even drafted one. [Kubiak] wants to run the ball.” The Broncos drafted fullback Andy Janovich in the sixth round after being a one-back offense in a season spent shifting between styles in Peyton Manning‘s final year.
- A poll conducted by Competitive Edge Research showed the Chargers‘ downtown stadium measure probably wouldn’t pass even if just 50% of the vote was needed, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. A California State Supreme Court decision, though, currently would require the measure to receive a two-thirds majority to pass, stacking the odds against the Chargers. Cole tweets the team’s options could be remaining in Mission Valley or sharing a stadium with the Rams in Inglewood, adding the team prefers neither option. The NFL reporter said Tuesday the Chargers were looking at an Eastern Los Angeles site as well.
Saints Sign Darryl Tapp
10:01am: New Orleans confirmed the move, via the team’s website.
9:05am: The Saints auditioned Darryl Tapp last month and look to have seen enough from the veteran defensive end. New Orleans signed Tapp this morning, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter) as likely competition for a potential rotational defensive line job — a capacity the 31-year-old performer is familiar with filling.
To make room for Tapp on their 90-man roster, the Saints cut tight end Jack Tabb, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Tapp spent the past two seasons with the Lions on one-year deals, serving as a backup on the edge. He occupied that same role in stints with other NFC teams previously. Tapp’s lone run as a steady starter came for the late-2000s Seahawks before he landed with the Eagles, playing in Philadelphia’s 4-3 scheme from 2010-12, and settled into his second-unit role.
The former second-round pick in 2006 will join his fifth NFC franchise and attempt to latch on with the Saints in a less-conventional manner. He signed with Detroit in March of 2014 and 2015, respectively. Although Tapp hasn’t started more than two games in a season since doing so in 2009 with Seattle, he played in 16 in each of the past two seasons with the Lions and represented a solid run-stopping presence.
Roster Resource details the Saints have a fairly thin group behind Cameron Jordan as they transition back to a 4-3 scheme full-time in an attempt to recover from a nightmare defensive season. Obum Gwacham, Bobby Richardson and third-round pick David Onyemata reside on New Orleans’ roster as possible options opposite Jordan.
Tabb tore his ACL in training camp last year after arriving in New Orleans as a UDFA earlier in 2015.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Vandervelde, T. Jackson, Rosen
Free agent offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde has generated interest from three NFL teams, a source tells PFR (Twitter link). The 28-year-old Vandervelde has spent the duration of his career with the Eagles, but he’s bounced on-and-off the active roster, appearing in just 17 games over five seasons. In 2015 alone, Vandervelde, who can play both guard and center, had three separate stints with Philadelphia. The former Iowa Hawkeye also had a workout with the Seahawks earlier this year.
Let’s take a look at a few more items from around the league:
- Former Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a report from TMZ Sports. Jackson was arrested last week for allegedly pointing a gun at his wife and threatening to kill her — he reportedly asked for a public defender because he didn’t have the funds to pay for a lawyer. Seattle has apparently moved on, as the club tried to claim Connor Shaw off waivers from the Browns and is still in the process of finding a No. 2 quarterback.
- Looking (far) ahead to the 2018 draft, UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen is expected to be one of the first players off the board, and NFL clubs are already looking into him, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com. While Bruins head coach Jim Mora Jr. is unsurprisingly a major supporter of Rosen (“His potential is unlimited”), some NFL scouts think that Rosen might need to exhibit more maturity over the next two years.
- Franchise-tagged players have until July 15 to agree to long-term deals with their respective clubs, leading Mark Maske of the Washington Post to placed odds on the likelihood that on Von Miller, Kirk Cousins, and Muhammad Wilkerson will ink new contracts in the next week or so. PFR’s Sam Robinson posed a similar question last night, asking PFR readers which of the franchisees would sign new pacts with their teams before next Thursday.
- As anyone who was watching Amazon’s All or Nothing witnessed, the Cardinals cut defensive end Lawrence Okoye last season after he parked in the wrong parking spot (link via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com). Of course, had Okoye been a more high-profile player, the parking issue likely would gone unpunished — instead, the incident was used by head coach Bruce Arians as a way to teach his players to become detail-oriented.
North Notes: Le’Veon, Edsall, Bengals, Browns
Le’Veon Bell recently stated (through song, that is) that he’d like $15MM per season on his next contract with the Steelers, but as Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets, that’s simply not going to happen. As Corry notes, the top end of the running back market has stagnated, and it’s the middle class of runners that is seeing a pay increase. Adrian Peterson is still on top in terms of running back deals, earning more than $14MM per year; No. 2 is LeSean McCoy, but he’s all the way down at $8.01MM annually. The burgeoning section of running back pacts is in the $5-8MM range, which Bell, if he can stay healthy, will presumably top. But a running back coming off a major injury redefining his positional market? Highly unlikely.
Here’s more from the North divisions:
- The Lions hired former UConn/Maryland head coach Randy Edsall as director of football research/special projects back in January, and today Jim Caldwell explained exactly what Edsall will be up to during the season. “He’s going to do a little bit of advanced scouting for us, taking a look at teams from a defensive standpoint to help our offense,” Caldwell told Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. “We’re going to have him work with a little bit of time management issues, clock management issues. Across the board, there’s going to be quite a few things.” Twentyman compared Edsall’s role to that of Jim Tressel‘s with the Colts in 2011, while Ernie Adams has done similar work with the Patriots for many years.
- The best contract on the Bengals‘ roster is that of quarterback Andy Dalton, writes Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap, who notes that Cincinnati only fully guaranteed Dalton $17MM. The rest of the deal is essentially a pay-as-you-go deal, with the Bengals having the option of getting out down the road. The worst pact, per Fitzgerald, is defensive tackle Domata Peko‘s two-year deal, not due to its poor structure but simply because the Bengals appeared to have overvalued Peko.
- While the Bengals don’t have many poor contracts to choose from, the Browns are lacking in team-friendly deals, but tackle Joe Thomas has been so productive that Fitzgerald believes the veteran has earned his contract. Unfortunately, Cleveland has a long track record of questionable pacts, and the worst might be linebacker Paul Kruger, who signed a five-year, $40.5MM after making just six career starts with the Ravens.
- Earlier today, the Lions officially released veteran linebacker Stephen Tulloch after months of speculation that they would do so. Detroit saved $6MM against the cap by making the move now (and waiting until Tulloch got healthy to cut him).
South Notes: Coleman, Luck, Robinson, Lewan
In his sixth NFL season, safety Kurt Coleman enjoyed something of a career renaissance with the Panthers, starting 15 games while posting seven interceptions, good for second in the NFL. With Josh Norman and Roman Harper no longer around, Coleman will be counted on to act as a veteran leader in Carolina’s secondary, and though he’s entering the final year of his contract, he’s not worried about inking a new deal.
“I respect everyone that’s involved in the process and I’m trusting that both sides are going to do what’s right and what’s fair,” Coleman told Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. “Honestly, it’s out of my hands. My job isn’t to negotiate. I probably wouldn’t be that good at it. My personal feelings might get (involved). I just control what I can control.”
As Roster Resource shows, the Panthers will be relying on players with little to no NFL experience in the defensive backfield. Bene Benwikere, Tre Boston, James Bradberry, and Daryl Worley are among the defenders who will need to contribute in 2016, and that lack of pedigree is one reason I pegged Carolina as a logical landing spot for free agent safety Donte Whitner.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two South divisions:
- After driving into a retention pond and preceding to fall asleep Sunday morning, Jaguars running back Denard Robinson was — somewhat surprisingly — determined to not be impaired while at the wheel, as Joe Daraskevich of the Florida Times-Union reported. Robinson and a passenger were apparently both found asleep at around 4:20am on Sunday, and each reportedly dismissed an officer’s attempt to remove them from the car. “I should not have been driving that late or when I was that tired, but again, I’m just glad that everyone was safe,” Robinson said in part.
- While Andrew Luck‘s new contract set a new NFL record in terms of average annual value, many observers were surprised that the Colts quarterback didn’t receive more (in either guarantees or yearly salary). Personally, I count myself among those that believe that Luck could have held out for a larger payday, but former agent Joel Corry (now a CBSSports.com contributor) has a different take. “I’m surprised that so many people seem so underwhelmed by the deal, because it did establish new benchmarks and certain parameters,” Corry told Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, pointing to Luck’s cash flow and effective guarantees as positives in the contract.
- Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan is exhibiting a new level of maturity, and head coach Mike Mularkey has noticed the change, as Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com writes. Meanwhile, Mularkey said that eighth overall pick Jack Conklin‘s development on the right side has gone “smoothly,” according to John Glennon the Tennessean. PFR recently took its own look at Conklin and the other Titans first-year players in our Impact Rookies segment.
8 Teams That Could Sign Donte Whitner
Veteran safety Donte Whitner wasn’t happy with the timing of his release from the Browns earlier this year, and he had every right to be upset. After Rodney McLeod, George Iloka, Eric Weddle, Tashaun Gipson, and a cadre of other safeties had already scored large contracts on the open market, Whitner hit free agency about three weeks after many clubs had already spent their free agent money. As such, Whitner will likely have to settle for a one-year deal in the coming weeks.
But Whitner, who will turn 31 years old later this month, is still a talented player, having graded as the league’s No. 24 safety among 89 qualifiers in 2015, per Pro Football Focus. He’s also remarkably durable, as he’s missed only three games over the past six seasons. As such, PFR recently ranked Whitner as the No. 1 free agent available on the defensive side of the ball, ahead of other players such as Leon Hall, Greg Hardy, and Dwight Freeney.
Let’s take a look at some potential landing spots for Whitner as he looks to ink a contract before (or during) training camp…
Carolina Panthers — Former fourth-round pick Tre Boston spent the first two years of his career as a special teams stalwart, biding his time behind Roman Harper while waiting for a starting opportunity. That time has come, but will Ron Rivera and the rest of Carolina’s coaching staff feel comfortable relying on Boston, who has just six starts to his name and has only averaged about 28% playing time over the past two seasons? After rescinding Josh Norman‘s franchise tag, the Panthers will have enough questions at cornerback without having to worry about their safety group, too. Adding Whitner to play opposite Kurt Coleman could help alleviate any concerns the club might have.
Dallas Cowboys — The Cowboys defense has taken its share of hits this offseason, with Rolando McClain, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Randy Gregory all facing multi-game suspensions. Dallas’ secondary has remained untouched, but second-year safety Byron Jones is the only above-average option projected to start in the club’s defensive backfield. Strong safety Barry Church has never been special, and the Cowboys didn’t select a safety in the draft until the sixth round (Central Michigan’s Kavon Frazier). If Tony Romo can stay healthy during the upcoming season, Dallas should return to contention in the NFC East, and Whitner could be the final piece of the puzzle on defense.
Detroit Lions — Lions general manager Bob Quinn has been adamant that his club will field a wide-open competition at strong safety, but the latest reports indicate the former Saint Rafael Bush holds the upper hand over fellow free agent signee Tavon Wilson and fourth-round rookie Miles Killebrew. Bush, though, hasn’t been able to stay healthy during his five-year NFL career. The 29-year-old ended the 2014 season on injured reserve with a broken leg, and missed all but one game last year after tearing a pectoral muscle. Wilson, meanwhile, never started a single contest for the Patriots despite being a former second-round pick, and played just 83 defensive snaps in 2015. All in all, it’s an unproven and untrustworthy group, and Whitner could represent a more sure thing.
Houston Texans — The Texans boasted one of the NFL’s best defensive units in 2015, so they don’t need to add a free agent like Whitner. Houston already had a poor encounter with a veteran free agent safety last season, as Rahim Moore was benched in early November before being released just one season into a three-year deal. But that experience shouldn’t scare the Texans off, as Whitner could add a hard-hitting force to a safety crop that possesses quantity, but perhaps not quality. Andre Hal looks like the club’s starter at free safety, but strong safety could be a toss-up between Eddie Pleasant, Quintin Demps, Antonio Allen, and rookie Kris Dillon. Whitner, for all his faults, looks to be an improvement over any of those options.
Jacksonville Jaguars — The Jaguars are going all-in on the 2016 season, and they spent the majority of their offseason upgrading their defense. After handing big-money deals to defensive lineman Malik Jackson and safety Tashaun Gipson, general manager Dave Caldwell spent all but one of his draft picks on defenders, using his first two to pluck cornerback Jalen Ramsey and linebacker Myles Jack. But after allocating all that capital, strong safety is still a weak spot on the Jags’ roster, as former second-round pick Johnathan Cyprien graded out as a bottom-three safety last year, according to PFF. As such, Cyprien is reportedly in danger of losing his job to James Sample, but perhaps Jacksonville would prefer a more stable veteran. And not for nothing, Whitner has working experience with Gipson, as the pair spent the past two seasons together in Cleveland.
Kansas City Chiefs — Even after losing one safety to free agency (Tyvon Branch) and another to retirement (Husain Abdullah), the Chiefs are still pretty well-stocked at the position. All Pro Eric Berry, the club’s franchise tag designee, will hold down one spot, while Ron Parker will man the other. But with Parker taking on so many other roles in Kansas City’s defense, including nickel corner, Whitner could make for a strong depth addition. It wouldn’t be a perfect match, however, as Berry does his best work close to the line of scrimmage — the same area that Whitner regularly patrols. The Chiefs are going to mess with Berry’s role to accommodate someone like Whitner, so the latter might have to be open to a reserve role.
Los Angeles Rams — The Rams are perhaps the most obvious fit on this list, especially given that they’re the only club with which Whitner has had a known visit. Whitner met with Los Angeles in the beginning of April, and though reports have indicated that he remains “in play” for general manager Les Snead & Co., the Rams might be cooling in their pursuit of veteran safeties. LA’s search for secondary help — which, in addition to Whitner, has involved fellow free agent Dashon Goldson — could be limited by the team’s desire to see how its younger options, such as Maurice Alexander, Cody Davis, and Christian Bryant, play out before adding a more experienced player. The Rams’ only safety with more than five career starts under his belt is T.J. McDonald, who could possibly be facing a suspension after being arrested for DUI earlier this year.
San Diego Chargers — San Diego has already replaced franchise legend Eric Weddle, agreeing to a deal with former Colt Dwight Lowery over the offseason. But strong safety remains a weakness — in his first season as a full-time starter, Jahleel Addae was below-average, ranking as the No. 76 safety in the league, per PFF. The Chargers ranked 25th in defensive DVOA last season, and were even worse specifically against the run, where they placed 31st. Whitner would help in that regard, assisting the front seven in rush defense while Lowery covers the back end. San Diego did assign Addae the second-round restricted free agent tender, so the club clearly values him, but none of his $2.553MM salary is guaranteed, so if the Chargers wanted to go in another direction, they could easily get out of that contract.
Others — Given that former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is now with the Bears, I initially pegged Chicago as a good fit for Whitner, given that the pair enjoyed success together in the Bay Area from 2011-13. However, the Bears selected two safeties in this year’s draft, and as Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune has written on multiple occasions, Chicago would like to see how those younger options play out, and is quite pleased with 2015 rookie Adrian Amos at strong safety.
The Ravens also struck me as a potential landing spot for Whitner, given that general manager Ozzie Newsome has a history of squeezing every last drop out of veteran free agents. But Baltimore already spent money on Eric Weddle this offseason, and even after offloading the troubled Will Hill, the club still boasts cornerback convert Lardarius Webb, former first-round pick Matt Elam, and Kendrick Lewis at safety, so it’s not exactly a position of need. Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com noted that the Ravens have long been fans of Whitner, but allowed that a signing was unlikely.
Finally, the Vikings are known to be looking for the perfect complement to Pro Bowler Harrison Smith, and even after inking Andrew Sendejo to a four-year deal and signing free agent Michael Griffin, the club still doesn’t sound confident with its options at strong safety. Whitner, then, would seem to be a potential fit, but as Ben Goessling of ESPN.com wrote last month, Minnesota is probably looking for a player who can handle pass coverage responsibilities given how often the team moves Smith around the formation. Whitner is not that guy, so perhaps the Vikes aren’t quite a perfect landing spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Release Stephen Tulloch
4:43pm: The Lions waited until Tulloch passed his physical in order to avoid having to pay him $1.1MM as part of an injury protection settlement, Birkett reports. Tulloch previously said the long wait did not stem from an injury-related issue, but the linebacker took several physicals this offseason.
3:44pm: Tulloch had surgery this year, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter), and didn’t pass a physical until today. That explains the lengthy delay and could certainly affect his market, particularly at this juncture.
3:31pm: After months of Stephen Tulloch residing in limbo, the Lions released the longtime linebacker, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com reports. The 31-year-old veteran will be free to sign with any team. However, being cut nearly four months after free agency began does not help the 1
1th-year player.
The Lions will save $6MM by making this move after completing an odyssey that began in February.
We heard three weeks before free agency was set to open the Lions were planning to release the five-year starter, and Tulloch even thanked the team that day only to be kept on the roster until well after offseason workouts concluded. In waiting for Tulloch to pass the physical, the Lions weren’t in a rush to conclude this process after already paying him the $500K roster bonus he was owed, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk reports.
“Obviously, I was told back in February that the team kind of wanted to go in a younger direction, which is understandable, but we had some things to work out in between, between that, that’s why kind of things haven’t really unfolded,” Tulloch said in June.
“[I’ve] just been training, getting ready. I know that a couple people reached out when they found out earlier in the off-season [I was going to be released], but obviously it’s been 3 1/2 months.”
Tulloch, who was excused from minicamp during this hiatus, won’t have much time to assimilate at his next destination if he is to land elsewhere. The former fourth-round pick in 2006 led the Lions with 108 tackles last season and started 15 games. The N.C. State product started 67 contests with the Lions, who signed him in 2011 after he spent the first five seasons of his career with the Titans. However, Tulloch’s career turned somewhat during September 2014, when he tore his ACL celebrating a sack.
The Lions did not use Tulloch much on passing downs last season upon his return from surgery, however, diminishing his value.
Lions GM Bob Quinn said recently the team had been in contact with several UFAs this offseason, and Detroit is in position to make a move if it so chooses. After this release, 88 players reside on the Lions’ roster. And the team stands to possess more than $20MM in cap space.
Tahir Whitehead will continue to work as a three-down linebacker for the Lions and looks set to step into Tulloch’s middle linebacker spot in Detroit’s base defense, Birkett writes, with 2014 second-round pick Kyle Van Noy set to receive the first crack at starting at the other outside spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
John Elway, Von Miller Resume Talks
Earlier today, news emerged that the Broncos and Von Miller broke their silence recently. The conversation was evidently somewhat substantive, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reporting John Elway called the franchise-tagged linebacker in an attempt to break the ice.
Sources informed Schefter the Broncos are ready to get a deal done with Miller after an acrimonious offseason impasse. Elway spoke with Miller for around 10 or 15 minutes over the weekend on a call some said needed to be made, per Schefter, as the deadline to sign franchise-tagg
ed performers looms in 10 days.
While making it clear to Miller the Broncos still regard re-signing him as a high priority, Elway reportedly informed the reigning Super Bowl MVP he will reach out to his agents this week in an effort to accelerate talks and secure a long-term deal.
Miller and the Broncos previously ceased communication after the sides could not agree on total guaranteed money last month. Denver offered its 2011 first-round pick a six-year, $114.5MM deal that satisfied Miller in terms of contract length and total value while falling short of his expectations for guaranteed money. The previous proposal contained $39.8MM in fully guaranteed money, a sum that falls short of Marcell Dareus‘ 2015 extension with the Bills. The offer, one the Broncos technically rescinded after Miller declined it, also did not provide Miller with as much guaranteed money within the first nine months as the Eagles included in Fletcher Cox‘s extension.
The overall parameters of the deal that could well stand as what Miller signs by next Friday in the event the parties agree would make him the highest-paid defender in league history, slightly surpassing Ndamukong Suh‘s 2015 Dolphins accord. Suh received $59.5MM fully guaranteed at signing, however, a number Adam Caplan of ESPN.com reported the Broncos are not up to at this point.
Elway also participated in a conference call with one of Miller’s agents, Joby Branion, over the weekend, according to Mike Klis of 9News. Elway has signed each of the three players the Broncos have tagged under his watch — Matt Prater (2012), Ryan Clady (2013) and Demaryius Thomas (2015) — and looks to be honing in on a potential final act of the Miller negotiations.
As it stands now, Miller has yet to sign the $14.26MM exclusive franchise tender and remains steadfast in his threat to sit out the season and enter 2017 without the possibility of being exclusively tagged next spring. Miller remains the Broncos’ most important player, which serves as his leverage in this standoff, and one that’s claimed two first-team All-Pro honors during a five-year career that’s included 60 sacks.