Cameron Fleming

Broncos To Re-Sign T Cameron Fleming

MAY 31: Fleming will be tied to a deal worth $2.1MM in base value, 9News’ Mike Klis notes, adding that the veteran tackle’s third Broncos contract will include $850K guaranteed (Twitter link). Fleming will count $2.35MM on Denver’s 2023 cap sheet.

MAY 23: Right tackle continuity has eluded the Broncos for over a decade, and they will have a different Week 1 starter (Mike McGlinchey, barring an injury) for an 11th straight season. But a steady option at that position is on his way back to town.

Denver is re-signing Cameron Fleming, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The sides agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $4MM on Tuesday. Fleming has made 19 starts for the Broncos over the past two years. With McGlinchey in the fold, the well-traveled veteran will be positioned to be Denver’s swingman. Fleming met with both the Jaguars and Dolphins in April, but each team made moves during or after the draft.

McGlinchey signed a five-year, $87.5MM deal to stop the Broncos’ revolving door at right tackle. With the practical guarantees on the ex-49er’s deal surpassing $52MM, the former first-round pick is on track to be Denver’s right-side starter for the foreseeable future. But the team entered the week without four of its tackle regulars from 2022. Billy Turner signed with the Jets, while Calvin Anderson joined the Patriots. Tom Compton, who saw injuries allow him little time as a Bronco, is a free agent. Fleming’s return certainly gives the Broncos better depth.

Fleming played both right and left tackle for the Broncos, who lost longtime left tackle Garett Bolles to a broken leg in Week 5. Injuries besieged the Broncos’ Russell Wilson protection crew last season, with Bolles, Turner, Compton and center Lloyd Cushenberry missing large chunks of the campaign. This made Fleming valuable. He suited up for 15 games and started all 15. Tuesday’s agreement will give the journeyman an opportunity to play a 10th NFL season.

The Broncos initially signed Fleming once well-paid right tackle Ja’Wuan James suffered an offsite injury during the 2021 offseason, when the NFLPA lobbied to nix voluntary workouts at team facilities. As a result, the Broncos cut James with a non-football injury designation. Fleming lost the right tackle competition to Bobby Massie, but the latter was not retained last season. Denver brought in ex-Nathaniel Hackett Packers charge Turner, but he missed nine games due to injury.

Pro Football Focus viewed Fleming as a solid option last season, ranking him just inside the top 30 at tackle. His work at both positions last season makes for an ideal swing option. Fleming has played the swing role previously, working in that capacity for the Patriots and Cowboys. He operated as a full-time Giants right tackle starter in 2020, leading to the Broncos accord. The former fourth-round Pats pick has 61 starts on his resume.

Fleming, 30, stands to bridge the gap between Denver’s experienced Bolles-McGlinchey starter tandem and a cast of unseasoned backups. Isaiah Prince, who missed all of the 2020 and ’22 seasons, and Christian DiLauro (five career games) reside as the other swing options in Denver.

Dolphins Host T Cameron Fleming

Dolphins GM Chris Grier expressed support for Austin Jackson receiving another chance at right tackle, but after the former first-rounder played in two games last season, it makes sense for the team to explore insurance options. One potential veteran addition visited Monday.

Cameron Fleming met with the Dolphins today, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Fleming began last season as the Broncos’ starting right tackle and saw extensive playing time during what became an injury-prone season for Denver’s offensive line. A 61-game starter, Fleming profiles as one of the top tackle options still left on the market.

Although the Dolphins met with the well-traveled blocker, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson points to this being a due-diligence mission. No deal is imminent, Wilson tweets. This makes sense. The Dolphins will be connected to right tackle options in the draft, given their issues at the position last season, and Fleming could reside as a fallback plan — depending on how the AFC East team proceeds this week. The Dolphins do not pick until No. 51.

Fleming, 30, joins George Fant, Cameron Erving and 2022 Broncos teammate Billy Turner as top right-side options available. Longtime Dolphin Jesse Davis is also back on the market. So is former Patriots first-rounder Isaiah Wynn, who fared much better at left tackle prior to his contract-year position switch. Marcus Cannon, Dennis Kelly and 2022 Dolphins emergency option Brandon Shell are also unsigned.

The Broncos were planning to hold a Turner-Tom Compton training camp competition, but injuries to both moved Fleming into one of the NFL’s most unstable spots. Fleming became the 10th Broncos Week 1 right tackle in 10 years. He started 15 games — at both right and left tackle — for Denver last season and was a Broncos first-stringer four times in 2021. A 2014 fourth-round pick, Fleming has mostly been a swing tackle. But the Giants did use him as a 16-game starter in 2020. Fleming also spent time with the Patriots, starting 20 games from 2014-17, and Cowboys. Fleming also started two Pats playoff games in 2017, including Super Bowl LII.

Jackson is going into what could well be a contract year. The Dolphins have until May 2 to pick up his fifth-year option. His ankle injury led to Shell becoming the team’s primary option, despite the former Jets and Seahawks blocker having signed during the season.

Jaguars Host T Cameron Fleming

Jacksonville lost a key member of their offensive line during the initial wave of free agency last month, but a notable addition could be coming soon. The Jaguars hosted veteran tackle Cameron Fleming on a free agent visit, per ESPN’s Field Yates (Twitter link).

Jawaan Taylor inked a four-year, $80MM deal with the Chiefs to protect the blindside after occupying the right tackle spot throughout his four years in Duval County. That move left a sizeable vacancy up front for the Jaguars, who have been far less active on the open market in 2023 than they were the previous offseason given their much different financial situation.

Taylor priced himself out of Jacksonville, but Fleming would represent a capable replacement. The 30-year-old did enough in limited action in 2021 to earn himself a new deal with the Broncos last summer. Brought in to provide experienced depth, he ended up starting all 15 games he appeared in over the course of the season, logging a snap percentage of 98%.

Fleming, who started his career in New England before seeing time with the Cowboys and Giants, had one of his best seasons in 2022 in terms of PFF evaluation. The Stanford product earned an overall grade of 72.6, a new personal high mark. Pass protection in particular was seen as a strength of his performance, though another deal allowing him to remain in the Mile High City would be very unlikely.

The Broncos made one of the other big splashes on the o-line market last month, signing RT Mike McGlinchey to a five-year, $87.5MM contract. That was part of their major investment up front, with left guard Ben Powers also landing a big-ticket deal. That leaves Fleming on the market for a new team, and Jacksonville could certainly be an appealing destination given their success in 2022 and potential for further postseason runs in the immediate future.

The Jaguars currently have just over $10MM in cap space, which would comfortably be enough to sign Fleming on a deal worth the relatively modest amounts he has made during his career. The fact that he has also seen extended time at left tackle during points in Denver and elsewhere, coupled with his level of play last season, could up his asking price to a degree, however. Jacksonville could still be a suitable landing spot for him to at least compete for a starting spot with 2021 second-rounder Walker Little on the right side.

Broncos Bring Back RT Cameron Fleming

The Broncos brought in two new candidates to vie for their right tackle position, a job that has seen numerous players cycle through during a 10-year period of instability. But the team circled back to one of its 2021 right tackles Wednesday.

Cameron Fleming is re-signing with the Broncos, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Fleming, one of the two post-Ja’Wuan James veterans the team added during the 2021 offseason, will be part of the team’s right tackle competition. To make room on their 90-man roster, the Broncos waived linebacker Kadofi Wright.

Fleming lost last summer’s right tackle competition to Bobby Massie but ended up starting four games at the position. Massie is not on Denver’s 90-man roster, and the longtime Bears blocker has not caught on with another team this year. Fleming, 29, joins Tom Compton and Billy Turner as veterans vying for the 2022 right-edge gig. Multiyear Broncos backup Calvin Anderson is also in the mix for the position, though Compton’s experience and Turner’s familiarity with Nathaniel Hackett‘s scheme make them likelier candidates to end up with the gig.

The Broncos placed Turner on their active/PUP list to start camp, complicating their situation. Denver has used a different Week 1 right tackle in each of the past nine seasons. Unless Massie re-emerges, that streak will run to 10. Fleming could inject some rare continuity into this situation, but this is likely an insurance move.

Almost all of Turner’s one-year, $2.5MM deal is guaranteed. Compton signed for one year and $2.25MM; $1.5MM of that is guaranteed. Neither of these sums would be too onerous, dead money-wise, to jettison before Week 1. This would be Fleming’s ninth NFL season. He worked as a starter or swing backup with the Patriots, Cowboys and Giants from 2014-20.

Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC West

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These BroncosChargersChiefs and Raiders moves will be noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Denver Broncos

Signed: 

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad: 

Kansas City Chiefs

Signed:

Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list:

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Claimed:

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Broncos Trim Roster To 53

The Broncos joined the fray Tuesday in moving their roster down to 53 players, after cutting ties with several players Monday. Here is how new GM George Paton constructed his initial 53-man roster:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

The Broncos are expected to bring back both Fleming and Stephen, Paton said (via Denver7’s Troy Renck, on Twitter), with running back Mike Boone and cornerback Michael Ojemudia bound for the regular-season IR list. Both backups are set to miss time to start the season, but the Broncos carried each onto the 53-man roster and will plan for their in-season returns.

Because Fleming and Stephen are vested veterans, they do not need to clear waivers in order to re-sign with the Broncos. Denver signed both Fleming and Stephen this offseason. While Fleming competed with fellow addition Bobby Massie, the latter won the Broncos’ right tackle job. Bassey and Dawson can return after six weeks, though the Broncos’ cornerback contingent is much deeper than last season — to the point the roster may not have room for both. Ojemudia would stand to be Denver’s No. 5 corner upon returning.

AFC West Notes: Raiders, Jefferson, Broncos, Massie

During an appearance on HBO’s The Shop: Uninterrupted, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady discussed his reactions to a potential 2020 free agent suitor pulling out of the sweepstakes to stick with their incumbent signal-caller.

“There was a story, in free agency, one of the teams, they were interested and all of sudden they weren’t interested at the very end,” Brady said. “I was sitting there thinking, you’re stick with that [expletive]? Are you serious?

“When I look back I’m like, there’s no [expletive] way I would’ve went to that team. But they said they didn’t want me. I know what that means, I know what that feels like.”

There’s been plenty of speculation about the mystery team and quarterback that Brady was referring to, and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com cites multiple league sources who believe the future Hall of Famer was referring to the Raiders and Derek Carr. Las Vegas had been mentioned as a potential Brady suitor during the 2020 offseason, but the organization dropped out of the sweepstakes after balking at Brady’s long list of requests. As Florio notes, Brady had his chance at payback last season, when he tossed four touchdowns in a 45-20 Tampa Bay victory over Las Vegas.

Unless Brady unexpectedly reveals who he was talking about, we’ll never truly know if it was the Raiders. Plenty of other teams and quarterbacks have been mentioned, including the Bears/Mitch Trubisky and the Titans/Ryan Tannehill. The 49ers and former teammate Jimmy Garoppolo have been a popular suggestion, but considering Brady’s lifelong affinity for San Francisco (and his declaration that he was never going to sign with that team in the first place), we can probably cross them off the list.

Here’s more out of the AFC West…

  • Quinton Jefferson has played all over the defensive line during his five-year career, but despite the Raiders depth at defensive tackle, the team is still planning to play their free agent acquisition at his natural position. The 28-year-old will be teaming up with the Raiders main offseason acquisition, defensive tackle Yannick Ngakoue, and Jefferson is excited to form a two-headed monster with his good friend and former college teammate. “Yannick is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL right now and he brings that intensity,” Jefferson told The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. “He is going to bring some pressure and help relieve Maxx (Crosby), free Maxx up so that other teams can’t key on one guy. And then hopefully I can bring some interior pressure as well, so we should have a good mix out there. I am excited to see how that all comes together.”
  • Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post explores several Broncos players who find themselves on the roster bubble prior to training camp and the preseason. Atop his list is defensive tackle McTelvin Agim, a 2020 third-round pick who was limited to only 110 defensive snaps as a rookie. O’Halloran notes that it’s troubling that the young defensive lineman wasn’t working with the starters during minicamp despite the absences of Mike Purcell and Shelby Harris. Offensive tackle Calvin Anderson, running back Royce Freeman, safety Trey Marshall, and linebacker Derrek Tuszka also earned spots on the list.
  • The Broncos brought in both Bobby Massie and Cameron Fleming to compete for the starting right tackle spot, and ESPN’s Jeff Legwold believes Massie will get the first shot at the gig. Massie certainly has the advantage when it comes to experience; the 31-year-old has started 110 of his 118 career games, including each of his eight games in 2020. Meanwhile, Fleming has mostly served as backup throughout his career (91 games, 42 starts), although he did start a career-high 16 games for the Giants last season.

AFC Notes: Browns, Fisher, Broncos, Fleming

The Browns made some front office hires recently, and for one spot they simply plucked a player off their roster. Cleveland has hired Anthony Fabiano as a scouting assistant, the team announced in a release alongside a bunch of other names. Fabiano is a 2016 UDFA from Harvard, who spent the past handful of years bouncing around the bottom of various teams’ rosters as an offensive lineman.

He started a game for the Browns as a rookie in 2016, and then started another for the Colts in 2017. All told, he spent at least a bit of time with nine different teams. He was signed by the Browns back in January right as their season was about to end, and didn’t appear in a game. Given his Ivy League education, it’s not too surprising he had an easy time transitioning to the front office.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • It was initially reported that Eric Fisher‘s one-year deal with the Colts would pay him $9.4MM in 2021, but it turns out it’s a bit less than that. Fisher’s 2021 compensation will actually be $8.38MM, veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson tweets. It’s only $6MM guaranteed. It includes a $4MM signing bonus, a $2MM guaranteed salary, and then $2.38MM in per game active roster bonuses. Wilson also notes that it’s technically a two-year pact with 2022 automatically voiding for cap purposes.
  • Fisher isn’t the only AFC offensive lineman we have new contract details on. Cameron Fleming signed with the Broncos last month as further right tackle insurance after the Ja’Wuan James season-ending injury, and it was initially just reported as a one-year deal worth “up to” $3.67MM. Turns out it’s a one-year deal with a base value of only $1.67MM, with $1MM in guarantees, John Clayton of DenverFan.com writes. That would seem to indicate Fleming has $2MM in incentives available for this season. The Broncos have also signed Bobby Massie, so they have some options opposite Garett Bolles.

Broncos Sign OL Cameron Fleming

The Broncos have added another potential option to fill in for injured right tackle Ja’Wuan James. Mike Klis of 9News in Denver reports (via Twitter) that Denver has signed offensive tackle Cameron Fleming. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that it’s a one-year deal worth up to $3.67MM.

[RELATED: Broncos, Bobby Massie Agree To Deal]

Following news that James had torn his Achilles, the Broncos brought in four offensive tackles for auditions: Fleming, Bobby Massie, Dennis Kelly, and Jermaine Eluemunor. The team added Massie yesterday on a one-year, $4MM deal, but the Broncos front office is assuring they have enough depth to make up for James’ absence.

Fleming started 16 games for the Giants last year. However, the G-Men let him walk after his one-year, $3.5MM deal expired. Before that, Fleming spent four seasons in New England and two in Dallas playing under Joe Judge and Jason Garrett. From 2017-2020, Fleming played between 230-400 snaps per season, working as a part-time starter throughout that stretch.

Fleming and Massie will likely go head-to-head for the starting gig, with Calvin Anderson and Ryan Pope also competing for the job. Whoever wins the starting position will be the Broncos’ ninth Week 1 Broncos right tackle starter in nine years.

Broncos Meet With Cameron Fleming

The Broncos are set to meet with Cameron Fleming, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets. He’ll show his stuff alongside Dennis Kelly and Bobby Massie as the Broncos look for solutions at right tackle.

Fleming started 16 games for the Giants last year. However, the G-Men let him walk after his one-year, $3.5MM deal expired. Before that, Fleming spent four seasons in New England and two in Dallas playing under Joe Judge and Jason Garrett. From 2017-2020, Fleming played between 230-400 snaps per season, working as a part-time starter throughout that stretch. If all goes well, the former fourth-round pick could spend his age-29 season in Denver.

Ja’Wuan Jameslatest injury has left the Broncos searching high and low for answers. The Broncos furnished James with a four-year, $51MM deal in 2019. Unfortunately, between knee trouble, a 2020 opt-out, and his new Achilles tear, James has seen just 63 snaps as a Bronco.