Good Morning, Broncos fans! Although it had been suggested earlier that Elvis Dumervil left Denver for Baltimore over a $500K difference, the details tend to say otherwise.
According to Mike Klis, the Broncos offered Elvis $10M in full guarantees ($8M of 2013 compensation, and $2M as part of a $5M salary in 2014) as part of their three-year offer, while the deal he took from the Ravens includes only $8.5M in full guarantees. Over the first three years of his Ravens contract, the base compensation is actually $1M less than what the Broncos had offered.
The Baltimore deal contains greater upside in the form of incentives, but as all regular IAOFM readers know, comparing NFL contracts is all about examining the fully guaranteed money. Granted, Dumervil's 2014 compensation is just $4.5M now, and would have been $5M from Denver, but the point here is that Baltimore can cut him next offseason without owing him a penny beyond his 2013 salary.
Good Morning/Afternoon, Broncos fans! Your usual correspondent is back with the Daily Lard, albeit a bit later than normal and even less coherent than is typical.
I tend to try not to use this space for sharing personal news, but in this case, the development in question is bound to have an impact upon the timeliness of the Lard each morning for the near-term future, until I find a new schedule.
Don't worry, faithful readers - IAOFM isn't undergoing any major changes. We're all still here, and intend to keep improving upon what we believe to be the best independent Broncos coverage out there.
The big change is that there's a new Broncos fan in the world, and in the Lee household, and this yet-to-be-named boy is obviously going to have a little more control over my schedule than an OCD control freak like me would prefer.
Happy Tuesday, friends. Doug is indisposed today, so you're stuck with me. It's important that the Daily Lard stay daily, so watch as I mail this one in. Really, it's because my Google reader isn't set up with all the good sites. I bet it's still better than the auto-generated links dump that you get at MHR, though, and we'll never, ever link to Bleacher Report. Okay? Okay.
Jeff Legwold is about a week late to the party in debating with himself, via both the Rolodex and quotes obtained by other media sources, whether the NFL has gone too far with its rule changes. The money shot:
It might be the biggest collision the NFL has to offer these days.
Compelling stuff, Jeff.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Now that the Ravens have stolen away Elvis Dumervil, Peter King suggests that Baltimore may have - when combined with their playoff win over the Broncos - finally gotten its revenge on John Elway.
Perhaps he's right, but Denver got a legendary QB out of the deal, two Super Bowl titles, and a great start to Elway's career as football czar, so a lot more would have to happen for those scales to balance out.
Back to Elvis, PK suggests that Dumervil's decision, as expected, largely came down to pride and finding the slightest excuse to leave Denver. The extra $500K in 2013 compensation (which was the only fundamental difference between the two teams' offers) was apparently enough, and it's hard to blame Dumervil, after all that he went through over the past few weeks.
Elvis, it was a pleasure watching you play for our Broncos for these seven years (six seasons, counting the injury), and we wish you success and happiness in Baltimore, although not at Denver's expense.
Continue reading "Baltimore gets back at Elway again, still has far to go Lard"
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Word is, Elvis Dumervil hasn't made a decision concerning where he'll play in 2013, because he needs more time.
More time for what? To think? To find another suitor? For Denver or Baltimore to increase their offer, which Mike Klis suggests isn't happening?
Honestly, who cares? What's the rush?
The worst-case scenario from Denver's perspective is that Elvis leaves. They obviously wanted him back all along, but they were also very much ready to move on and replace him with a cheaper - albeit older and slower - player in John Abraham or Dwight Freeney.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! Due to a scheduling conflict with their neighboring Orioles, the Ravens will not host the NFL opener in 2013, as SB champions have habitually done in recent years.
Baltimore will instead hit the road for the opener, and the Broncos have been mentioned as a possibility to host the game. The Ravens' other 2013 road opponents are Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cincy, Detroit, Buffalo, Miami, and Cleveland.
Obviously, the NFL will prefer a marquee matchup, so logic says the only real possibilities are Denver, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. We don't need or want to explain why Broncos/Ravens would make an awful lot of sense here, so we won't.
But Mike Klis says the Broncos aren't expecting to be the Ravens' opponent that night, and are instead more likely to host the back end of the opening MNF doubleheader (ugh on the behalf of all East Coast Broncos fans).
Happy Friday, Broncos fans! John Abraham and Dwight Freeney visited Dove Valley yesterday and left emptyhanded, but they're still seen as the fallback plans should Elvis Dumervil opt for a fresh start.
Adding to his report on Baltimore's offer to Elvis, Mike Klis says the Dolphins and Titans have expressed interest in the defensive end, but have not yet made formal offers. It's unclear whether either team has scheduled a visit with the 29-year old.
As for Klis's suggestion that re-signing Elvis would require the team to cut a player or two, we'll assume he means that would have to happen by the time the draft rolls around. (Jason at OTC has updated his estimates for rookie draft pool amounts; for Denver, the figure is just over $3.9M.)
We'll stick with Chris Kuper and Joe Mays as the likeliest candidates to be released.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! It's been well chronicled that four of Denver's 2012 starting offensive linemen - Ryan Clady, J.D. Walton, Chris Kuper, and Orlando Franklin - are recovering from surgeries.
As for which of those players will be starting for Denver in 2013, well, that's less clear. We have to assume Clady will be ready in time to take his familiar spot at left tackle, and while there's been talk of Frankling kicking inside to guard, there's no replacement for him at right tackle, so figure he'll remain there as well.
Kuper figures to be displaced by Louis Vasquez, but if he sticks around long enough, there's always the possiblity he and Zane Beadles battle it out over the remaining guard spot.
That leaves center, where Jeff Legwold says the Broncos see 2012 fourth-rounder Philip Blake as real competition for Walton, whom he already replaced at Baylor upon J.D.'s move to the NFL.
Good Morning, Broncos fans! The league's owners pushed through two safety-inspired rule changes, while delaying the vote on another one until today, or perhaps even until May.
The passed measures ban peel-back blocks anywhere on the field, and serve to make FG and XP tries safer by preventing teams from stacking one side of the line or having linebackers push the line from behind.
As for the change that was tabled, it's the most contested one, at least by Bears RB Matt Forte and retired legends Marshall Faulk and Emmitt Smith - a ban on ballcarriers delivering hits with the crowns of their helmets outside the tackle box.
From a safety standpoint, it's a no-brainer (no pun intended), and fellow HOF running back Jim Brown supports the change.
Defensive players appreciate that the competition committee is finally looking to offer them more protection, after years of changes that favored offensive players.
Continue reading "Running backs debate proposed rule change Lard"
Good Morning, Broncos fans! The NFL awarded 32 compensatory draft choices to 16 teams yesterday; as had been expected, the Broncos did not receive any extra picks.
Denver's draft choices have now been finalized, and pending any trades, they'll be picking at numbers 28, 58, 90, 125, 161, and 234. They have one pick in six of the seven rounds, with their sixth-rounder having gone to Philly to complete the Brodrick Bunkley trade from 2011.
As for the rest of the West, Kansas City received extra third- and sixth-rounders, Oakland a supplemental sixth-rounder, while San Diego joined Denver in getting none.
KC now has eight choices, with the second-rounder having gone to San Francisco as the front end of the Alex Smith deal.
