Broncos DC: Bryce Callahan At Full Speed
Bryce Callahan has not played in a game since early December 2018. The Broncos cornerback is tentatively on track to finally return to action, however.
Second-year Denver defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said Callahan is working at full speed after missing his first Broncos season with more foot trouble, per Denver7’s Troy Renck (on Twitter). Callahan endured multiple setbacks last year, dealing with the foot problem that ended his Bears run late in the 2018 season.
This would be big news for a Broncos team that has fully moved on from its accomplished No Fly Zone secondaries. Denver allowed All-Decade corner Chris Harris to walk in free agency and will count on Callahan and trade acquisition A.J. Bouye to lead their new-look group at the position.
The Broncos signed Callahan to a three-year, $21MM deal in March 2019. He aggravated the foot he broke in his final days with the Bears at multiple junctures last year, however, going down in training camp and then experiencing more pain after practicing on it last November. The Broncos placed him on IR shortly after the latter aggravation, and he underwent a second foot surgery. Callahan’s absence limited the team in coverage last season.
Prior to his foot trouble, the former UDFA became one of the league’s better slot corners while working under Donnatel and Vic Fangio in Chicago. Although the Broncos traded for Bouye, the rest of their corner group remains uncertain. They used a third-round pick on Iowa corner Michael Ojemudia, but the team has seen multiple third-round corners — Brendan Langley (2017) and Isaac Yiadom (’18) — fail to impress as pros. Callahan, now 28, enduring another setback would likely force the team to survey the cornerback market.
Broncos Announce Front Office Moves
Matt Russell has been with the Broncos since Josh McDaniels‘ run as head coach, and the team rewarded the holdover from the previous regime Friday.
The Broncos promoted Russell to VP of player personnel, the team announced on Friday. This will be Russell’s 12th year with the franchise. Previously the team’s player personnel director for nearly eight years, Russell has overseen the Broncos’ pro and college personnel departments during most of John Elway‘s tenure. Although Elway did not hire him, Denver’s current GM continues to hold Russell in high regard.
The former Patriots and Eagles scout played a key role in the Broncos’ drafts in the late 2010s, ones that produced better returns than the team’s selection hauls immediately preceding them, and before that helped Elway transform Denver’s roster in between Super Bowls XLVIII and 50.
Although Russell has not been mentioned in GM searches, his and Elway’s partnership has given the Broncos rare continuity. Only the Patriots (Bill Belichick–Nick Caserio) and Cowboys (Jerry and Stephen Jones) have seen their top two personnel execs work together this long — among active staffs — according to the Broncos’ website.
Denver also promoted another staffer who arrived during its previous regime. Mark Thewes, who began as assistant to McDaniels in 2009, will now serve as VP of football operations. Thewes was previously the Broncos’ director of team administration. Additionally, the Broncos promoted western regional scout Darren Mougey to assistant director of college scouting.
Broncos OL Elijah Wilkinson Has Surgery
- The Broncos did not add a left tackle in the draft or free agency, planning instead to hold a Garett Bolles-vs.-Elijah Wilkinson competition for the job. The latter will be coming off surgery. Wilkinson underwent an ankle procedure in May, Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic notes. Wilkinson, who filled in for Ja’Wuan James as Denver’s starting right tackle for almost all of last season, suffered a high ankle sprain in December. The ailment did not heal properly, postponing the fourth-year player’s recovery. Wilkinson, who signed his second-round RFA tender in April, still hopes to be ready for training camp.
Broncos Notes: Gordon, Vannett, Heuerman
Melvin Gordon is sticking in the AFC West in 2020 after defecting from the Chargers to the Broncos, and the veteran running back feels Denver’s offense is much more suited to his playing style, as he described to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
How Gordon’s role will play out in Denver remains to be seen. Phillip Lindsay, who topped 1,000 yards rushing in each of his first two NFL seasons, remains on the Broncos’ roster, as does Royce Freeman. But Gordon, who inked a two-year, $16MM deal ($13.5MM guaranteed), figures to be Denver’s primary back.
- Free agent signee Nick Vannett is expected to replace Jeff Heuerman as a backup Broncos tight end, as Mike Klis of 9News writes. Vannett left the Steelers to sign a two-year, $5.7MM deal with Denver, while Heuerman has one year and $4MM remaining on his pact. It’s highly unlikely that Denver will choose to retain tight ends given their similar skill set, so Heureman looks like a candidate to be released.
Longest-Tenured GMs In The NFL
When we ran down the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, we found that less than half of the league’s current coaches have been in their positions for more than three years. That’s not quite the case with general managers, but there have been plenty of changes in recent years.
A handful of general managers have gotten to take their coats off and stay for a long while. Among coaches, Bill Belichick had joined his team prior to 2003. Here, you’ll see that five GMs have been with their teams since before ’03 (Belichick, of course, is also on this list). Two of those five – Jerry Jones and Mike Brown – are outliers, since they’re team owners and serve as de facto GMs. But the Patriots, Steelers, and Saints, have all had the same general managers making their roster decisions for well over a decade.
Here’s the complete list of the NFL’s longest-tenured GMs, along with the date they took over the job:
- Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
- Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
- Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers): February 18, 2000[4]
- Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
- Rick Spielman (Minnesota Vikings): May 30, 2006[5]
- Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons): January 13, 2008
- John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010[6]
- Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010
- John Elway (Denver Broncos): January 5, 2011[7]
- Les Snead (St. Louis Rams): February 10, 2012
- David Caldwell (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 8, 2013
- Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013
- Tom Telesco (San Diego Chargers): January 9, 2013
- Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014
- Ryan Pace (Chicago Bears): January 8, 2015
- Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016
- Bob Quinn (Detroit Lions): January 8, 2016
- Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016
- John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017
- Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017
- Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017
- Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017
- Marty Hurney (Carolina Panthers): July 19, 2017
- Dave Gettleman (New York Giants): December 28, 2017
- Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
- Mike Mayock (Oakland Raiders): December 31, 2018
- Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
- Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019[8]
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020[9]
- Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 28, 2020
Footnotes:
- Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
- Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
- Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
- Colbert was initially hired as the team’s director of football operations and received the newly-created general manager title in 2011.
- Spielman was initially hired as the team’s VP of player personnel and received the GM title in 2012.
- While Schneider holds the title of GM, head coach Pete Carroll has the final say on roster moves for the Seahawks.
- Elway was initially hired as the team’s executive VP of football operations and received the GM title in 2014.
- In 2018, the Ravens announced that DeCosta would replace Ozzie Newsome as GM for Ozzie Newsome after the conclusion of the season. The Ravens’ ’18 season ended with their Wild Card loss to the Chargers on 1/6/19.
- Technically, the Redskins do not have a GM, as of this writing. Rivera is, effectively, their GM, working in tandem with Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith. Smith may receive the GM title in the near future.
Longest-Tenured Head Coaches In The NFL
Things move fast in today’s NFL and the old adage of “coaches are hired to be fired” has seemingly never been more true. For the most part, teams change their coaches like they change their underwear. 
A head coach can take his team to the Super Bowl, or win the Super Bowl, or win multiple Super Bowls, but they’re never immune to scrutiny. Just ask Tom Coughlin, who captured his second ring with the Giants after the 2011 season, only to receive his pink slip after the 2015 campaign.
There are also exceptions. Just look at Bill Belichick, who just wrapped up his 20th season at the helm in New England. You’ll also see a few others on this list, but, for the most part, most of today’s NFL head coaches are relatively new to their respective clubs. And, history dictates that many of them will be elsewhere when we check in on this list in 2022.
Over one-third (12) of the NFL’s head coaches have coached no more than one season with their respective teams. Meanwhile, less than half (15) have been with their current clubs for more than three years. It seems like just yesterday that the Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, right? It sort of was – Kingsbury signed on with the Cardinals in January of 2019. Today, he’s practically a veteran.
Here’s the list of the current head coaches in the NFL, ordered by tenure, along with their respective start dates:
- Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000
- Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints): January 18, 2006
- Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh Steelers): January 27, 2007
- John Harbaugh (Baltimore Ravens): January 19, 2008
- Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks): January 9, 2010
- Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): January 4, 2013
- Bill O’Brien (Houston Texans): January 2, 2014
- Mike Zimmer (Minnesota Vikings): January 15, 2014
- Dan Quinn (Atlanta Falcons): February 2, 2015
- Doug Pederson (Philadelphia Eagles): January 18, 2016
- Sean McDermott (Buffalo Bills): January 11, 2017
- Doug Marrone (Jacksonville Jaguars): December 19, 2016 (interim; permanent since 2017)
- Anthony Lynn (Los Angeles Chargers): January 12, 2017
- Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams): January 12, 2017
- Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers): February 6, 2017
- Matt Nagy (Chicago Bears): January 7, 2018
- Matt Patricia (Detroit Lions): February 5, 2018
- Frank Reich (Indianapolis Colts): February 11, 2018
- Jon Gruden (Las Vegas Raiders): January 6, 2018
- Mike Vrabel (Tennessee Titans): January 20, 2018
- Kliff Kingsbury (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2019
- Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals): February 4, 2019
- Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos): January 10, 2019
- Matt LaFleur (Green Bay Packers): January 8, 2019
- Brian Flores (Miami Dolphins): February 4, 2019
- Adam Gase (New York Jets): January 11, 2019
- Bruce Arians (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 8, 2019
- Ron Rivera (Washington Redskins): January 1, 2020
- Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers): January 7, 2020
- Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys): January 7, 2020
- Joe Judge (New York Giants): January 8, 2020
- Kevin Stefanski (Cleveland Browns): January 13, 2020
Latest On Jason Peters’ Market
Connected to a possible return to the Eagles for what would be a 12th season in Philadelphia, Jason Peters remains a free agent. And he either is attempting to convince teams he can be an option for longer than one season or he believes he will legitimately play into his 40s.
The decorated left tackle has said that he feels great and views playing past 40 as realistic, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (video link). While the Eagles and Peters appear to be in a holding pattern for now, Garafolo adds other teams have engaged in discussions with the 38-year-old blocker.
Teams like the Broncos and Chargers make sense for a stopgap left tackle. Neither drafted one, and the Bolts now have a new quarterback investment — in No. 6 overall pick Justin Herbert — and a glaring vacancy at left tackle after trading Russell Okung to the Panthers for Trai Turner. The Broncos, Bolts, Browns and Jets could be suitors, per James Palmer of NFL.com, but nothing concrete has emerged on Peters beyond a potential Eagles return. The Browns and Jets drafted tackles in Round 1, and each is expected to start in Week 1.
Denver did not pick up Garett Bolles‘ fifth-year option but was also not in the mix for Trent Williams, Palmer adds. As of now, the Broncos’ plan is for Bolles and swing man Elijah Wilkinson — who started at right tackle for most of 2019 due to Ja’Wuan James‘ injury issues — to battle for the left tackle spot. The Broncos carry just more than $17MM in cap space; the Chargers hold $22MM-plus. Both teams were active in March, adding several new starters, and the Broncos loaded up on offensive playmakers in the draft. Each AFC West squad, though, has a big question at left tackle.
As for Peters’ plans of playing past 40, that would certainly be a rare occurrence for his position. Hall of Fame right tackle Jackie Slater and Ray Brown, who primarily played guard in his 20-year career, are the only tackles in NFL history to suit up for age-40 seasons. Andrew Whitworth, however, just re-signed a multiyear deal with the Rams. He will turn 39 later this year.
Broncos Notes: Draft, Lindsay, O-Line
At pick No. 83, the Broncos drafted center Lloyd Cushenberry. The starting snapper for national champion LSU is the early favorite to be Denver’s Week 1 center. However, he may well have been the Broncos’ second choice for this role. The Broncos had a deal in place to move up to No. 79, where they would have taken Temple center Matt Hennessy, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports. The Jets were set to drop from No. 79 to No. 83 and add a Day 3 pick from the Broncos to do so, Mehta notes. The Falcons, however, scuttled these plans by drafting Hennessy at No. 78. Instead of moving up for Cushenberry, the Broncos stood pat. Interestingly, the Jets’ signing of two-year Broncos starter Connor McGovern created a Denver need at center. With the Falcons interrupting a Jets trade-down maneuver, Gang Green took defensive end Jabari Zuniga at No. 79.
Here is the latest out of Denver:
- Melvin Gordon‘s two-year, $16MM Denver deal surprised many, with the Broncos already featuring two-time 1,000-yard rusher Phillip Lindsay. Count Lindsay as one of those surprised by the move. “It caught me off-guard,” Lindsay said during an interview with NFL.com’s Terrell Davis (video link via The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala). “It was like, ‘OK, I’ve put in work.’ It makes it seem like they don’t respect you enough to know the work you’re putting in. I was really upset at the beginning. I’m not gonna lie.” Lindsay said soon after he has since come around to the prospect of splitting time with Gordon, viewing the ex-Charger as another weapon in a retooled offense. As a 2018 UDFA, Lindsay is extension-eligible. He is set to make just $750K but has not indicated plans for a holdout.
- Although the Broncos passed on Garett Bolles‘ $11MM fifth-year option, they did not draft a tackle. The team passed on both Ezra Cleveland and Josh Jones in Round 2, doing so to take Penn State speedster K.J. Hamler at No. 46. The Broncos passed on the blockers because they did not view either as having the chance to beat out Bolles or Elijah Wilkinson at left tackle, per Troy Renck of Denver7. Wilkinson, who played right tackle most of last season because of Ja’Wuan James‘ injury, is set to compete with Bolles for Denver’s starting left tackle gig.
- Despite Bolles’ penchant for holding penalties and failure to thus far live up to his first-round billing, the Broncos are not in the market for a free agent tackle, Jhabvala notes (subscription required). Jason Peters, Donald Penn, Kelvin Beachum and Cordy Glenn are the most notable names available.
Broncos To Decline Garett Bolles’ Option
The Broncos will decline Garett Bolles‘ fifth-year option, according to Mike Klis of 9News (on Twitter). Instead of getting a guaranteed-for-injury 2021 salary of $11.064MM, Bolles will be ticketed for free agency after the 2020 season. 
[RELATED: 2021 Fifth-Year Option Tracker]
With that, Bolles will play out his original four-year rookie pact at a modest rate of $1.97MM. If he has a strong year, he’ll have an opportunity to cash in at a premium position, similar to D.J. Humphries. It’s not a terrible outcome for Bolles, even though he’s lost out on a bit of health insurance.
Bolles has had perfect attendance over the course of his three year career, appearing and starting in every possible game. At the same time, penalties have been a major problem for him.
“Well, it’s got to stop. Period. There are no more excuses for it,” GM John Elway said when asked about the flags back in September (via ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold). “He’s had 26 holding penalties in the last two years and two games, so it’s got to stop. The bottom line is if he thinks he’s getting singled out, he is. He’s got to understand that. He’s got to understand what he’s doing. And that was my question (to him last Sunday), ‘Does he know what holding is?’ Does he know what he can and can’t do?”
The Broncos will continue to work with him on his technique while putting him up against Elijah Wilkinson for the starting job. Last year, Bolles received 13 flags for holding.
Five Teams Tried To Claim Austin Calitro
Austin Calitro is a popular guy. The Broncos, Browns, Jets, and Raiders all tried to claim the linebacker after he was waived by the Jaguars, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Ultimately, they all lost out to the Bengals, who had the league’s worst record last year and top priority on the waiver wire.
[RELATED: Bengals Claim Samaje Perine]
The Bengals were happy to welcome Calitro, who suited up in 13 games (including four starts) for the Jaguars last year. He’s got a solid chance of making the roster, where he could see his time split between defense and special teams. If he doesn’t make the cut, it’s a safe bet that at least a couple of these clubs will come calling.
Last year, Calitro registered 40 tackles and a sack while serving as a key special teams contributor for Jacksonville. Over the last two years, he’s logged 432 snaps in the third facet of the game.