A pair updates of interest from Mike Klis:
1. There's been no progress between the Broncos and Elvis Dumervil; Klis thinks this could stretch until Friday, which is essentially Denver's deadline. Of course, now that PMFM & Co. will be posting 40+ per game, who needs defense?
2. Manning was among those to put in a recruiting call to Wes Welker, which had to be somewhat bittersweet for Peyton, assuming he's not a cyborg (big assumption). Welker figures to replace Brandon Stokley, who was part of the Duke reenactment of the 2009 AFC title game, hosted Manning for his first recruiting trip to Denver last year, and came out of retirement to join his buddy with the Broncos.
Updated 8:56pm ET
Continue reading "Klis: PM recruited Welker, no progress w/Dumervil"
The Broncos defense will have 660 pounds of mass at its fulcrum (the literal one, not the figurative one that is Von Miller) this season, assuming Terrance Knighton is able to win a starting job next to Kevin Vickerson.
In a move that surprises nobody - at least nobody here at IAOFM - Denver has signed the former Jaguars defensive tackle to a two-year contract ($4.5M).
Knighton was selected by Jacksonville in the third round of the 2009 Draft (72nd overall) when Jack Del Rio was their head coach, and he played under Denver's current DC for two and a half seasons, until Del Rio was fired in 2011.
As first reported by Adam Schefter, five-time Pro Bowl slot receiver Wes Welker has agreed to terms with the Broncos.
And there it is: what many in New England thought wouldn't happen has. Wes Welker has left the Patriots. He's a Bronco.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2013
Albert Breer reports the deal is for a shockingly low $12M over two years, and that the Patriots had offered just $10M over that same period.
Updated 10:54pm ET
Continue reading "Welker agrees with Broncos for two years, $12M"
John Elway announced that the Broncos agreed to terms on a one-year deal (a reasonable $1.1M salary) with former Cardinals LB Stewart Bradley.
Bradley was a third-round pick by the Eagles in 2007, and started 28 games with them in 2008 and 2010.
He signed a five-year, $25M deal with Arizona in 2011, but never started any of the 32 games for which he dressed. He collected $10M of the deal over two years, and was released on March 1.
Looks like Bill Simmons may be getting into the news-breaking side of the business...
Filed to ESPN: Broncos in serious talks, trying to hammer out an agreement with Patriots WR Wes Welker. Decision expected today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2013
Wouldn't portend well for Brandon Stokley's chances of returning, but the Broncos would be getting younger in the slot by about five years.
Updated 4:32pm ET
Continue reading "Broncos pushing to sign Welker; Pats getting chance to match?"
Not exactly a shocker, but New England has replaced Wes Welker with Rams WR Danny Amendola (five years, $31M, $10M guaranteed), who is one of the players who took over for Welker at Texas Tech.
According to Mike Florio, the Broncos are among four teams currently in pursuit of former Eagles and Raiders corner Nnamdi Asomugha. Anyone care to imagine a secondary trio of Champ Bailey, Asomugha, and Chris Harris, with Tony Carter at the dime?
While the Denver media was busy assuming that Jason Hunter would be playing a larger role in the Broncos defense this year, they forgot he was an unrestricted free agent (we didn't). But the Raiders didn't, and they've signed Hunter, along with Bengals DT Pat Sims and Browns LB Kaluka Maiava.
Again, keep checking back - we'll update this page throughout the day and night. We'll largely stick with yesterday's format, but add a timestamp at the end of each team's line when it's updated. Stamping each item would be a bit cumbersome, so perhaps this is a good compromise.
Updated 8:03pm ET
According to Adam Schefter, the Broncos' deal with free agent defensive tackle Terrance Knighton is virtually done:
Broncos close to an agreement with Jacksonville free-agent DT Terrance Knighton, who wants to reunite with Denver DC Jack Del Rio.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 13, 2013
Whether the Broncos attempt to keep Justin Bannan at this point remains to be seen (they could still use him in their rotation), but one thing is for sure, Del Rio now has exactly what he likes--over 660 lbs. of nastiness clogging the line of scrimmage on first and second downs.
As our own Ted Bartlett indicated earlier in the night, the Broncos should still draft a DT this year, there's no doubt. This signing gives them a lot more flexibility as to when they pull the trigger.
According to Mike Florio, the Broncos are the frontrunners to sign Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall, who is scheduled to visit Denver and Arizona, and has reportedly also drawn interest from the LOLJets, Dolphins, and Falcons.
We're a bit skeptical, but that can partly be attributed to all of us being a bit meh on Mendenhall. FWIW, Rashard saw just 104 snaps in 2012 after a torn ACL cut him down in the Steelers' 2011 regular season finale. He's accumulated 941 carries, 4,210 yards, and 31 touchdowns in 57 games.
I'll just start by saying that I'm very happy that the Broncos re-signed Kevin Vickerson. He did a terrific job for them in 2012 and played a big part in them doing such a good job against the run for most of the season. Along with Justin Bannan and Derek Wolfe, the Broncos' front-three did a nice job occupying the opposing five offensive linemen in the run game, and allowing the other front-seven players to flow to the ball.
Fundamentally, all things being equal, I always think it's better to re-sign a player than it is to sign a free agent from another team. With an outsider, you face scheme risk, in the sense that you don't know if a guy translates to what you're going to ask him to do. The Broncos know that Big Vick can play in multiple alignments, two-gap on base downs, and one-gap some in passing downs. What they're doing schematically isn't really common, so knowing a guy can do the job is key.
Continue reading "Gut Reaction: The Broncos re-sign Kevin Vickerson"
The Elvis Dumervil story has taken yet another turn, and it doesn't lend itself to the DE remaining in Denver. As reported by Mike Klis:
Magid sent back a proposal Tuesday that lowered his client's asking price from $12 million in 2013, but then added that reduction onto his contract in the form of guarantees for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Ian Rapoport says on NFLN that the Broncos now stand a better chance of keeping Dumervil around. We hope that's the case, but will believe it if/when that occurs.
