Latest On John Elway, Von Miller
- Broncos general manager John Elway‘s competitiveness could be a roadblock in the way of a Von Miller deal, according to Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post. Kiszla wonders if the Hall of Fame quarterback can put aside his hatred of losing to reach a compromise with Miller, the franchise-tagged linebacker who’s fighting with the Broncos over the lack of guaranteed money in their six-year, $114.5MM offer. The two sides have until July 15 to reach an agreement; if that doesn’t happen, the reigning Super Bowl MVP’s only choices would be to sign the $14MM-plus franchise tender or continue sitting out.
Broncos, Emmanuel Sanders Have "Good Talks"
- Veteran quarterback Josh McCown‘s status with the Browns seems to be in some dispute — while Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com believes the club would only trade McCown if they received a “tremendous offer,” Tony Grossi of ESPN.com disagrees (Twitter link), and doesn’t project McCown to make the final Cleveland roster. After waiving Connor Shaw on Thursday, the Browns now field Robert Griffin III, McCown, Austin Davis, and third-round rookie Cody Kessler on their depth chart, as Roster Resource shows. McCown was thought to be a trade candidate earlier this offseason, with the Broncos among the teams that reportedly expressed interest. If Cleveland ends up releasing McCown, the team would save nearly $3.4MM on its salary cap.
- The Broncos have engaged in “good talks” with wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, but recent receiver contracts have altered the playing field in negotiations, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Allen Hurns, Keenan Allen, and Doug Baldwin have all agreed to extensions with their respective clubs in recent weeks, and all three inked deals that average more than $10MM annually and contain more than $12MM in full guarantees. Those figures would seem to be floors for Sanders, who tops that trio in receptions, yards, and approximate value since 2014. Denver management reportedly exchanged contract offers with Sanders and his camp at the end of last month.
Shiloh Keo Pleads Guilty to DUI
- Broncos safety Shiloh Keo had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence, reports Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post. The 28-year-old was arrested in February in Idaho.
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Broncos Notes: Miller, Keo
Broncos management is at risk of sending the wrong message to the team’s players if it doesn’t reach a long-term deal with disgruntled franchise linebacker Von Miller by the July 15 deadline, opines Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. Denver’s standoff with Miller comes a year after it reduced then-quarterback Peyton Manning‘s salary by $4MM, writes Legwold, who notes that the Broncos’ willingness to play hardball with their biggest stars isn’t lost on their other players. However, as Legwold points out, the Broncos are the reigning Super Bowl champions, winners of five straight AFC West titles and have managed the salary cap well, so they’re clearly operating in a competent manner.
- Broncos safety Shiloh Keo could be subject to league discipline after pleading guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge for driving under the influence in February, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. Keo, who joined the Broncos last December, re-signed with the team on a one-year deal in April.
Latest on Aqib Talib
After about a month of uncertainty, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport has finally received some specifics on the Aqib Talib incident from early June. Just a quick refresher: the Broncos cornerback was shot in the leg at a Dallas nightclub, and initial reports suggested that the 30-year-old had accidently shot himself. Days later, the Dallas Police Department said Talib was a victim of “aggravated assault.” As our own Zach Links pointed out, “the five Ws of the ordeal” had never been clarified.
The Dallas Police Department incident report that was recently obtained by Rapoport (who passed along all of the following info via Twitter) seems to back the DPD’s latter claim. Talib told officers he didn’t know who shot him, and a witness claimed they only heard a single gunshot. Furthermore, the report indicated that an “unknown suspect shot the complainant.” There’s no mention of Talib shooting himself, which could indicate that the Dallas PD believes the defensive back was actually shot by another person.
Finally, Rapoport notes that one gram of marijuana was found by police, although nobody was charged. The entire incident report can be found here.
In early June, it sounded like Talib would presumably be handed some kind of suspension from the NFL. It’s uncertain whether this new information will change the league’s stance on the matter.
Luck's Contract Could Help Von Miller's Cause
The $87MM in guarantees on Andrew Luck‘s new contract should help franchise-tagged Broncos linebacker Von Miller in his quest to land a long-term accord, tweets Mark Dominik of ESPN. Although the Broncos and Miller only have until July 15 to reach a deal, they had ceased discussions as of last Friday. Miller – the reigning Super Bowl MVP – rejected a six-year, $114.5MM offer from the Broncos because it featured $39.8MM in guarantees, an amount the four-time Pro Bowler deemed unsatisfactory. If the two sides don’t find common ground and strike an agreement in the next two-plus weeks, Miller’s options would be to sign his $14.129MM franchise tender and play 2016 under it or sit out the season.
Fallout From Doug Baldwin’s Extension
With Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin‘s four-year, $46MM extension in the books, the Broncos’ Emmanuel Sanders is now at the front of the line of wideouts set to land new deals prior to the season, tweets Dan Graziano of ESPN. Baldwin, the Chargers’ Keenan Allen and the Jaguars’ Allen Hurns have all signed extensions worth upward of $40MM – including $20MM-plus in guarantees – this month, but each is younger than Sanders. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns, having combined for 177 catches and 15 touchdowns during that span, and figures to net a sizable raise over the $5.6MM he’s scheduled to make in 2016. The Broncos and Sanders are already in negotiations, as 9NEWS’ Mike Klis reported earlier this month.
More out of Seattle:
- The Seahawks will now turn their attention to locking up the Super Bowl-winning duo of general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Caroll, whose deals expire after this season, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. Extensions for the pair could come during training camp, per Condotta. Defensive end Michael Bennett, meanwhile, is the next member of the Seahawks’ roster likely to rake in a big payday, writes Condotta. Bennett won’t be a free agent until after the 2017 campaign, however, so he might have to wait another year.
- Baldwin went undrafted in 2011 out of Stanford, where he was teammates with superstar Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman. After all 32 NFL teams snubbed Baldwin for seven rounds, Sherman – a fifth-rounder that year – contacted the wideout and encouraged him to sign with the Seahawks. “They’re going to call you. I want you to be here,” Sherman said (via Jayson Jenks of the Seattle Times). Baldwin has since morphed into one of the pros’ best and richest wideouts because of his football-first mindset, which has come at a cost to his personal life, details Jenks. “I’m not the fastest, the strongest, the most athletic, the tallest,” Baldwin told Jenks. “But in order for me to be good at what I do, I have to focus on my craft so much that it alleviates those other things. I can’t have personal relationships like other people do. I can’t spend time on that.”
- Baldwin’s extension means the Seahawks will enter camp with one fewer distraction, observes ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia, who adds that Baldwin’s 1,000-yard season in 2015 was just the fourth by a slot receiver over the past five years. Baldwin is also the only receiver since 1992 – when targets were first tracked – to rack up 1,000-plus yards while hauling in at least 80 percent of the passes intended for him, per Kapadia.
NFL To Interview Peyton Manning
Late last week, the NFL made plans to interview most of the players implicated in the infamous Al Jazeera America documentary on performance enhancing drugs. That list of interviewees included currently players like Packers linebackers Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews and Steelers linebacker James Harrison as well as free agent Mike Neal. Peyton Manning was the biggest of the big names to be mentioned in the documentary, but he was not on the docket since he is no longer an active player. However, that has now changed. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy tells Mike Florio of PFT that the league office will meet with Manning. 
[RELATED: NFL To Interview Players Named In PED Doc]
While all of the other players will be interviewed roughly around the start of training camp, the exact date of Manning’s interview with the NFL is not yet known. The league still does not have the authority to force Manning into an interview, but his desire to work in an NFL front office has likely compelled him to cooperate. On top of that, as Florio notes, Manning would be in an awkward position if the accusations regarding Peppers & Co. were found to have merit while he did not consent to an interview.
Shortly after the documentary aired in December 2015, Manning went on the offensive and pronounced to the world that he would sue Al Jazeera for defamation. Months later, however, Manning backtracked from plans to bring legal action. If Manning’s lawsuit flip-flop raised eyebrows in the football world, he may have an opportunity now to silence critics by cooperating with the NFL’s investigation.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Emmanuel Sanders Not Concerned With Contract
- Entering the final year of his contract, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders seemingly isn’t worried about his ongoing contract negotiations with the Broncos, as he explains to Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. “I don’t think it weighs on me,” said Sanders. “I think it weighs on other people and then they talk about and it’s like, ‘All right, you’re trying to put the weight on me.’ If I could just keep my ears closed and not listen to the noise, I wouldn’t even know this is a contract year.” Sanders reportedly exchanged contract figures with Denver management last week.
Community Tailgate: Von Vs. Alshon
Nine NFL players were assigned the franchise tag during the 2016 offseason. Here’s a brief rundown, along with each player’s franchise salary:
Franchise players (exclusive):
- Von Miller, LB (Broncos): $14.129MM
Franchise players (non-exclusive):
- Eric Berry, S (Chiefs): $10.806MM
- Kirk Cousins, QB (Washington): $19.953MM
- Cordy Glenn, T (Bills): $13.706MM
- Alshon Jeffery, WR (Bears): $14.599MM
- Trumaine Johnson, CB (Rams): $13.952MM
- Josh Norman, CB (Panthers): $13.952MM
- Muhammad Wilkerson, DE (Jets): $15.701MM
- Justin Tucker, K (Ravens): $4.572MM
Some of the players listed above have already had their respective situations resolved. Cordy Glenn agreed to long-term extension with the Bills, while Carolina ultimately rescinded Josh Norman‘s franchise tag, allowing him to sign a deal with the Redskins. And while Eric Berry hasn’t yet inked an extension with Kansas City, the most recent reports indicate that the star safety is expected to sign a new contract at some point before the July 15 deadline. The same goes for kicker Justin Tucker, who has signed his signed his franchise tag — he’s confident that he and the Ravens will hammer out a deal in the near future.
A third of the list falls into a separate category — franchise-tagged players who haven’t yet agreed to an extension, and don’t seem likely to any time soon. Kirk Cousins signed his franchise tender almost immediately, locking him into a guaranteed salary of nearly $20MM, but Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com reported yesterday that talks are “going nowhere,” and both Cousins and Washington expect the signal-caller to play out the season on the tag. Like Cousins, Trumaine Johnson also signed his tender rather quickly, and isn’t expected to reach a new deal with Los Angeles in the next twenty days. On the flip side, Muhammad Wilkerson has not signed his tender, but there’s been no indication that he and the Jets are anywhere close to a new contract.
That leaves us with two remaining franchise players, and the pair — Von Miller and Alshon Jeffery — might be the dominant NFL storylines over the next few weeks. Any recent reader of PFR knows that Miller has garnered a copious amount of headlines as his negotiations with Denver drag on. Miller reportedly rejected a six-year deal worth about $114.5MM (specific guarantees and structure unknown), and then threatened a season-long holdout. Just yesterday, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com reported that the two sides had not talked contract terms since the early part of June.
Reports surrounding Jeffery have been much fewer and far between, and that could be because the Bears wide receiver has already signed his tender, meaning he’ll be with the Bears — and earning a hefty salary — no matter what happens over the next few weeks. But what little news has come about Jeffery’s negotiations has been murky. An early June report indicated that Jeffery was unlikely to reach an extension with Chicago, but just days ago Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com said the two sides were still discussing terms, noting that a new deal is “certainly possible.”
The question at hand, then, is this: who is more likely to sign a long-term deal, Miller or Jeffery? Certainly talks between Jeffery and the Bears have been more amicable, but more is arguably at stake for Miller and the Broncos. Trying to defend a Super Bowl title, Denver can’t afford to have its most talented player not present, while Chicago doesn’t have to worry about Jeffery not showing up. Still, with negotiations between Miller and the Broncos seemingly turning acrimonious, is there any hope of an extension?
What do you think? Which superstar is more likely to be with their respective team for the long haul? Is it possible that both Miller and Jeffery ink new contracts? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.