Ronnie Hillman's Contract Included Offsets
- Newly signed running back Ronnie Hillman‘s deal with the Vikings is a one-year pact worth the prorated league minimum of $760K, and contains no guaranteed money, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). The Broncos owed Hillman $400K in guaranteed salary when they cut him three weeks ago, but his contract with them had offset language, per Mike Klis of 9News. That means the Broncos won’t have to pick up the tab if Hillman’s on the Vikings’ active roster for nine weeks.
John Elway Addresses Brock Osweiler Situation
After orchestrating the strangest quarterback succession plan for a defending Super Bowl champion in NFL history, John Elway has observed the Broncos get off to their fourth straight 2-0 start. However, the player he attempted to re-sign before the bidding escalated out of his comfort zone struggled in his first big audition with the Texans.
Brock Osweiler‘s second start against the Patriots came in a 27-0 New England victory Thursday night, and Elway, albeit in a lighthearted tone, addressed the events of this spring that led to Osweiler venturing to Houston and 2015 third-stringer Trevor Siemian eventually ascending to the Broncos’ starting job.
“A lot of times those deals you don’t make are the best ones,” Elway told Dave Logan and Susie Wargin of KOA radio on Friday (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
“Obviously it was a tough night for Houston last night and — but things move on. You try to make the best decision when you have to make it. . . . Excluding last night, we really felt good with the way everything’s fallen, the way we went into camp, and we’re really excited with the guys who are playing the position for us now.”
As Florio points out, Elway’s initial response came with a lighthearted tone, but this is not the first time the sixth-year Broncos decision-maker opened up on the Osweiler situation.
In August, Elway pointed to Osweiler’s perceived slight when the eventual Super Bowl champions benched him for Peyton Manning in Week 17 of last year. That comment came four months after Elway initially addressed the 25-year-old quarterback’s defection in March.
The Broncos reportedly offered Osweiler $64MM before he signed the four-year, $72MM deal with the Texans but are now paying rookie-deal prices to their top two quarterbacks. The benching for Manning may well have induced Osweiler to seek a path elsewhere, so the Broncos might not have been battling on equal footing as they attempted to keep their former second-round pick in free agency. It’s marked an interesting situation for both teams, who each started 2-0 with victories over a 2015 playoff team.
Osweiler completed 24-of-41 passes for 196 yards and an interception against the Jacoby Brissett-led Patriots. For the season, the 6-foot-7 passer has completed 60% of his throws (231.7 yards per game) and has thrown three touchdown passes and four INTs. Operating a more ground-based attack, Siemian’s at 68% with 222 yards per game and one TD pass and three INTs.
Osweiler’s exit helped free up funds for the Broncos to re-up potential 2017 free agents Brandon Marshall and Emmanuel Sanders this summer, and while it’s not a given Siemian and Paxton Lynch will be a better investment yet, Denver has benefited from not having a franchise-quarterback salary on its payroll for the first time since 2011.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Practice Squad Updates: 9/22/16
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:
Cleveland Browns
- Cut: P Michael Palardy
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: C Shane McDermott
- Cut: C Jake Brendel (Twitter link via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News)
Denver Broncos
San Diego Chargers
- Signed: WR Isaiah Burse
- Cut: WR Jonathan Krause (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego)
Broncos Waive Kyle Peko
- The Broncos waived defensive lineman Kyle Peko, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
Broncos, Shiloh Keo Agree To Deal
Three days after releasing Shiloh Keo, the Broncos have agreed to re-sign the strong safety, reports Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). Keo was with the Broncos in Week 1 as he served the first part of a two-game suspension for an offseason DUI arrest, but the club briefly parted with him Saturday. Now that Keo’s ban is over, he’s free to play again.
The 28-year-old Keo first signed with the Broncos last December after injuries to David Bruton, T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart weakened their safety depth. Keo, an ex-Texan, helped put himself on the Broncos’ radar by reaching out to defensive coordinator Wade Phillips via Twitter about his interest in joining the club. He ultimately played in seven games last season with Super Bowl-winning Denver, including its three playoff victories, and added a Week 17 interception against San Diego.
Months after both the end of their season and his arrest, the Broncos re-signed Keo in April. Now that he’s once again a member of the team, the 2011 fifth-round pick will join rookies Justin Simmons and Will Parks as reserve safeties behind starters T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Donald Stephenson Out 2-3 Weeks
- Broncos right tackle Donald Stephenson suffered a calf injury that should keep him out 2-3 weeks, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Fortunately for Denver, he did not suffer a tear, as some initially feared.
DeMarcus Ware Fractures Forearm
Led by their dominant defense, the Broncos improved to 2-0 on Sunday with a 34-20 victory over the Colts. The Denver ‘D’ sacked Colts quarterback Andrew Luck five times and scored two touchdowns, but the unit may have lost a key cog for the foreseeable future. Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware fractured his forearm, head coach Gary Kubiak said after the game. Further evaluation Monday will help the Broncos determine whether Ware needs surgery (via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com).
Ware will likely miss three to four weeks, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). It’s worth noting that the next four quarterbacks on the Broncos’ schedule are Andy Dalton (Bengals), Jameis Winston (Buccaneers), Matt Ryan (Falcons) and Philip Rivers (Chargers).
Before leaving early in the third quarter Sunday, Ware contributed a half-sack, giving him two this year and 136.5 in his decorated career. Ware, who’s in his third season with the Broncos, has never finished a season with fewer than six sacks. He piled up 7.5 last year in just 11 regular-season games – the lowest total of his career – and tallied another 3.5 in three playoff contests as the Broncos’ defense steamrolled its way to a Super Bowl championship.
Entering this year, Ware missed the Broncos’ offseason program and the preseason while dealing with a back issue. He’ll now try to overcome what could be another significant injury, one that could leave the Broncos with Shane Ray as their primary weakside linebacker. Ray, whom the Broncos chose in the first round of last year’s draft, appeared in 15 of 16 regular-season games as a rookie and amassed four sacks. He has three tackles in the early going this year.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Aqib Talib Will Not Be Disciplined By NFL
Broncos star cornerback Aqib Talib will not be suspended for the incident that he was involved earlier in this summer, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). To recap, Talib was shot in the leg at a Dallas nightclub in early June, and initial reports suggested that the 30-year-old had accidentally shot himself. Days later, the Dallas Police Department said Talib was a victim of “aggravated assault.”
The report from the Dallas Police Department indicated that Talib told officers he didn’t know who shot him, and a witness claimed they only heard a single gunshot. The report further indicated that an “unknown suspect shot the complainant,” and there was no mention of Talib shooting himself. However, the Dallas PD was still investigating the incident as of the third week of August, and at that time the PD had not ruled out the possibility that Talib did, in fact, shoot himself.
If that were the case, then Talib almost certainly would be suspended, and indeed it was reported just last month that Talib would be facing discipline from the league. But now, it appears as though Talib has escaped punishment, unless the PD uncovers new evidence that might inculpate the Kansas product.
Just a couple weeks ago we learned that the Broncos were reportedly willing to trade Talib, whose off-field issues have frequently detracted from his on-field abilities. GM John Elway denied that report, and there have been no subsequent reports suggesting that opposing clubs approached Denver about a trade.
This news will surely be welcomed by the Broncos, who will likely need to rely on their defense to carry them back to the playoffs in 2016. Talib has three years remaining on his contract, and he will earn an $11MM salary this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Broncos Release Keo From Suspended List
Shiloh Keo incurred a two-game suspension stemming from a DUI arrest this offseason and was scheduled to be eligible to return in advance of the Broncos’ Week 3 game. He will now be looking for another team after the defending Super Bowl champions released him from their suspended list, Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter).
Keo functioned as a second-string safety for the Broncos after his notable Twitter plea to Wade Phillips partially led to a then-safety-depleted Denver team signing him midway through last season. However, Denver then drafted safeties Justin Simmons and Will Parks this year, and the former saw action in sub-packages against the Panthers.
Despite the DUI arrest, the Broncos re-signed Keo to a one-year, $760K deal in mid-April. They will now keep four safeties, with Simmons and Parks working as the second-teamers behind T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart. The latter is playing in the final season of a two-year contract.
Injuries to Ward, Stewart and David Bruton helped Keo see action in four regular-season games last season. He intercepted a fourth-quarter pass against the Chargers that resulted in the Broncos scoring the go-ahead touchdown shortly after and weeks later recovered the AFC title-cementing onside kick against the Patriots.
Originally a fifth-round Texans pick in 2011, the 28-year-old Keo started 11 games in 2013 and made 52 tackles.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
PFR’s Impact Rookies Series
All summer long, longtime scouting consultant Dave-Te Thomas of The NFL Draft Report has been breaking down the draft class of every team in the league and identifying the players that can immediately make a difference. The Impact Rookies series, which wrapped up today with a look at the Seahawks, provides unique insight to this year’s NFL freshman class from a veteran guru who worked closely with several teams around the league leading up to the draft.
Here is the full rundown of the Impact Rookies series:
AFC East
AFC North
AFC South
AFC West
NFC East
NFC North
NFC South
NFC West