Broncos Waive George Uko
- The Broncos have waived defensive end George Uko, as Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post writes. Uko joined Denver’s practice squad in September 2015 and inked a reserve/future deal with the team following SB50. Prior to joining up with Denver’s taxi squad, Uko had one NFL appearance with the Bucs on his resume.
Broncos Comfortable With $18MM For Von Miller
- Von Miller‘s price has gone up this offseason following Olivier Vernon‘s massive deal with the Giants, but the Broncos want to pay him somewhere between Ndamukong Suh and Justin Houston money, which would be around $18MM. Recent reports have indicated that Denver offered Miller more than $17MM annually.
Broncos Meeting With Paxton Lynch, Interested In David Hedelin
A previous report had indicated the Broncos were expected to bring in Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch this week, and Troy Renck of the Denver Post confirms (via Twitter) that visit is taking place on Tuesday. The Broncos, of course, continue to consider all their options at QB in the wake of Peyton Manning‘s retirement and Brock Osweiler‘s departure.
- Purdue offensive lineman David Hedelin is drawing interest from the Chiefs, Lions, Falcons, Broncos, Patriots, Washington, and Dolphins, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
Karl Joseph Visiting Broncos
According to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link), Joseph, who was in Pittsburgh on Monday, also has visits with the Cowboys, Vikings, Broncos, Bengals, Giants, Texans, and Colts on his pre-draft schedule. In Pro Football Rumors’ first 2016 mock draft, our Rob DiRe had Joseph coming off the board 21st overall, but there’s a good chance health concerns will drop him into the second round on draft day.
Connor Cook Visiting Broncos
Cook will have a busy schedule this week, according to La Canfora, who writes that the QB is visiting the Cowboys, Dolphins, Broncos, and 49ers. Cook will also visit the Jets and Bears, and work out for the Rams. He has previously visited the Ravens and Bills, and met with the Browns.
Paxton Lynch To Visit Broncos This Week
- Earlier today, Paxton Lynch‘s planned trip to the Jets’ facilities surfaced. The Memphis quarterback who’s regarded as the No. 3 passing prospect in this year’s draft is also expected to visit the Broncos this week, according to a Denver Post report. The Super Bowl champions hold pick No. 31 and would likely have to move up to acquire Lynch. Denver did pick up an additional fifth-round pick, giving the team two third-rounders and two fifths in addition to its usual allotment.
Broncos Offer Von Miller $17MM+ AAV Deal
It appears Von Miller‘s Dancing with the Stars run will likely keep him from beginning offseason workouts with the Broncos. Well, that and the fact the star pass-rusher hasn’t signed his franchise tag yet. Unless the 27-year-old Miller is eliminated from the competition Monday night, he will remain in Los Angeles for the duration of his stint on the show, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
But the bigger takeaway from Klis’ report is the Broncos have offered Miller a deal that would pay him between $17-$18MM p
er year.
That total would place the Super Bowl MVP second among all defensive players, behind only Ndamukong Suh‘s $19.06MM, in terms of average annual value.
Despite Miller’s demand of a $22MM-AAV deal in line with elite quarterbacks, the Broncos do not want to exceed Suh’s annual salary, Klis writes. Without Peyton Manning‘s $15MM+ cap number on their books as it was from 2012-15, Miller would become the highest-paid Bronco on a per-year basis — since the full parameters of Denver’s offer to Miller is not yet known — if he opted to accept this deal. Klis reports Miller is not expected to sign his franchise tender anytime soon.
Denver’s No. 2 pick in 2011, Miller believes he’s worth far more than the $17MM-AAV deal Olivier Vernon signed with the Giants based on the edge-rushers’ disparate sack numbers. The Broncos have eclipsed Vernon’s per-year mark but not nearly to Miller’s liking. A 2012 second-rounder, Vernon has 29.0 career sacks and one season with more than 10. Miller, a two-time first-team All-Pro, has 60.0 and four 10-sack+ seasons.
Vernon, however, was able to push his price this high because he was a free agent, whereas Miller will have a difficult time moving the Broncos to beyond $20MM per year due to the fact they’re negotiating with the franchise tag in play. Miller could play this year on the tag and be re-tagged next year — like the Seahawks did with Walter Jones — and still fall well short of Suh’s $19MM+ salary since his exclusive franchise tag is worth $14.129MM.
So, this standoff will likely continue well into the summer. If the sides don’t reach an extension agreement by July 15, Miller will play the 2016 season for $14.129MM.
Had Miller not been involved in this television competition, the fact that he hasn’t signed his tender would keep him out of Denver. Demaryius Thomas bypassed Broncos workouts until being signed to a five-year extension last July. Gary Kubiak told media, including Klis, he expected every player on the roster to attend these workouts, including Miller.
Klis doubts Miller will be eliminated from a contest that has actually induced Miller to take up residence in L.A. to practice at least four times per week. Dancing with the Stars arranges housing for its contestants.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Jets Acquire Ryan Clady
SUNDAY, 3:13pm: The trade is now official, as both the Jets and Broncos have announced the swap. New York will acquire pick No. 235 in addition to Clady, while Denver will receive pick No. 157.
SATURDAY, 8:01pm: Clady has agreed to a one-year, $6MM deal ($3MM guaranteed) for 2016, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links), who adds that Clady can max out at $7.5MM through incentives. Per Rapoport, the Jets will then hold a $10MM option — which can max out at $13MM — for 2017. A portion of that $10MM in 2017 comes from a $2.5MM bonus due in February of 2017, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
6:17pm: The Jets have found a replacement for the recently retired D’Brickashaw Ferguson, as they’ve acquired offensive tackle Ryan Clady and a seventh-round pick from the Broncos in exchange for a fifth-round pick, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Clady has agreed to rework his deal in order to facilitate the trade, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link).
[RELATED: D’Brickashaw Ferguson to retire]
The deal has been in the works for some time, according to Breer, who tweets that New York began talking to Denver about Clady as soon it anticipated Ferguson’s retirement — Ferguson’s decision to hang up his cleats only became public yesterday, but it sounds as though the team had some advance notice. Per Breer (Twitter link), the Jets had previously offered fellow left tackle Kelvin Beachum a contract similar to what he eventually signed with the Jaguars (one-year deal with a multi-year option), and it’s likely that Clady’s new deal in New York will be of a similar nature.
While Ferguson famously missed only a single offensive snap during his time with the Jets, Clady doesn’t have that same track record of durability. Injuries have marred the former first-round pick’s career, as Clady played in only two games during the 2013 season before suffering a Lisfranc injury, and missed all of the 2015 campaign after tearing his ACL during OTAs.
But aside from those two lost campaigns, the 29-year-old Clady has been a 16-game starter during every season of his career. He’ll join a Jets offensive line that was somewhat inconsistent in 2015, as they ranked No. 3 in pass protection per Football Outsiders’ metrics, but No. 26 in adjusted line yards. More specifically, Clady figures to be an improvement on Ferguson’s 2015 production, as Ferguson ranked as just the 60th-best offensive tackle in the league among 77 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
Clady has two years and $19.5MM remaining on his current contract, but if Breer is correct in reporting that Clady will take a paycut as part of the trade, the Jets could see an increase in cap space. New York will gain about $9MM in space when Ferguson’s retirement becomes official, and if Clady slashes his 2016 base salary from $9.5MM to, say, $5MM, the Jets would have some extra cash to put towards a reunion with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Broncos, of course, are also searching for a quarterback, and as such, the additional cap space with which to pay one. The trade of Clady will clear $8.9MM off Denver’s 2016 books, which will give the club nearly $10MM in total cap space for the year. That additional room could be enough to bring in someone like Colin Kaepernick via trade, and more than enough if they target someone more affordable such as Josh McCown.
Clady had been in Denver since being selected 12th overall in 2008, but his departure had been an almost foregone conclusion this offseason, despite the fact that he’d expressed his willingness to renegotiate his contact. The Broncos signed his replacement — former Seahawk Russell Okung — last month, and also brought in additional depth in the form of free agent Donald Stephenson. With Ty Sambrailo and Michael Schofield also on the roster, there simply wasn’t a place for Clady in the Mile High City.
The Jets are obviously betting on Clady’s health by acquiring him to be their starting left tackle, and it sounds like that optimism is well-warranted. According to Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today (Twitter link), Clady should be ready for the start of training camp, if not earlier. Clady suffered his torn ACL in May of last year, so he’ll be more than year removed from the injury when camp gets underway.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nick Foles A Speculative Fit For The Broncos, But Denver Has Not Expressed Interest
With a potential Colin Kaepernick trade to the Broncos on hold for now, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders whether Rams signal-caller Nick Foles could be a fit in Denver. Per Florio, a source with knowledge of the Rams’ quarterback dynamics has already predicted that Foles likely will be gone by the start of training camp, and that he definitely will not be on the team before Week One.
Foles’ $6MM roster bonus was paid on March 11, but that bonus was already fully-guaranteed, so the only additional obligation arising from keeping Foles into March 2016 came from his base salary, which is a modest $1.75MM (if Foles is traded, of course, that base salary goes with him). So the Broncos, who are asking that Kaepernick reduce his $11.9MM salary for 2016 to $7MM to facilitate a trade, could have Foles for just $1.75MM in 2016 (not including $4.5MM in incentives, but if Foles were to earn those incentives, the Broncos certainly wouldn’t be complaining).
Of course, the Broncos are not as strapped for cap space now that they have traded Ryan Clady, and as Florio points out, Denver may not have inquired into Foles simply because he played so poorly in 2015. As far as the Rams are concerned, Florio believes they will “squat” on Foles unless and until they draft a quarterback later this month, at which time the two sides will likely part ways.
- Free agent running back Ronnie Hillman, who has not found much of a market for his services, could be returning to the Broncos, according to Mike Klis of 9News.com, who reports that the two sides have exchanged contract proposals. Troy Renck of The Denver Post confirms the report (via Twitter), and he also tweets that head coach Gary Kubiak expressed an interest in retaining Hillman last month. Both Klis and Renck say that Denver will draft a running back later this month regardless of whether Hillman returns.
- The Jets are working out free agent wideout Kyle Williams today, per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter). Williams was drafted by the 49ers in the sixth round of the 2010 draft and is best-known for his two fumbled punt returns in the 2011 NFC Championship game. He sat out the entire 2014 season and signed with the Broncos prior to the 2015 campaign, but he tore his ACL last August and missed the entirety of the 2015 season as well.
Clady Trade Has No Impact On Possible Kaepernick Deal
Let’s take a look at the fallout of, and reactions to, yesterday’s trade that sent Ryan Clady and a seventh-round draft pick from the Broncos to the Jets in exchange for a fifth-round draft choice:
- A number of writers have pointed out that the trade, which saved the Broncos $8.9MM in salary cap space, creates room for the club to add a quarterback. However, as Mike Klis of 9News.com writes, the deal has no impact on whether Denver acquires current 49ers signal-caller Colin Kaepernick. Klis says that cap room had nothing to do with the Broncos offering Kaepernick a reduced 2016 salary of $7MM, and that they are offering him that salary because that is the current market value for elite backup quarterbacks (although Kaepernick would undoubtedly be the favorite to win the job as Denver’s starting QB, there would be an open competition between him and Mark Sanchez). As such, the most recent reports surrounding the Kaepernick-to-Denver rumors–that a deal is not dead, but is not likely at the moment–remain valid. Klis observes that the next deadline for a Kaepernick trade appears to be April 28, the first day of the 2016 draft, as any potential swap figures to include draft picks.