Author: Nick

Table Of 2016 Broncos Roster Predictions

Below the fold, this post contains a table of all the players the 11 participants of the 2016 Broncos Predict The Roster disagreed upon.

(Note that I have also indicated practice squad representatives for those of you who mentioned them in your comment. If you did not list a practice squad but would like to, list it in a comment in another thread you see me on (for some reason comments aren’t working here), or email me directly or via the contact form, and I will update the table accordingly.)

Continue reading Table Of 2016 Broncos Roster Predictions

Mike Klis: Ronnie Hillman’s “Days” May Be “Numbered”

This was an excellent observation made by Klis:

The Broncos have already paid $600,000 in signing and workout bonuses to running back Ronnie Hillman this year, but it would be a surprise if they would pay his remaining $1.4 million salary. Not when that salary is non-guaranteed and not when Hillman has fallen to No. 3 on the depth chart behind C.J. Anderson and Booker with No. 4 tailback Kapri Bibbs continuing to play well.

Hillman had a 21-yard kickoff return midway through the fourth quarter Saturday. While returning would enhance his value, it’s not always a good sign for an established veteran to play special teams in the fourth quarter of a preseason game.

UPDATE (7:00 PM MT) Klis has now reported that while Hillman has already been paid a $100,000 signing bonus and $100,000 workout bonus, the remaining $400,000 in guaranteed base salary contains offset language:

But if he’s released and another team signs him for the $760,000 minimum, the Broncos would not have to pay him the $400,000.

Continue reading Mike Klis: Ronnie Hillman’s “Days” May Be “Numbered”

Vance Walker Tears ACL

Per Andrew Mason:

A Monday afternoon MRI examination revealed that Walker suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during that morning’s practice.

Walker is expected to miss the 2016 season. The injury is a crushing blow for the eight-year veteran, who had moved onto the first team and was holding down a starting spot as he replaced free-agent departure Malik Jackson in the starting lineup.

As Mason alludes to, this means that Denver’s unrestricted free agent acquisition of Jared Crick, and second round rookie Adam Gotsis, will be asked to play a significantly higher number of snaps than perhaps originally planned.  This also provides an opportunity for recent street free agent acquisition Billy Winn to secure a role on the roster.

Here’s An Idea For The “Sources” Of The NFL

Create a central NFL Twitter account (call it @NFLSources or something similar), work with Twitter to get it verified, and whenever anonymous sources want to deliver news, they can log in to the account and tweet it out in one place.*  That way, we can avoid the absurdity of multiple insiders all tweeting the same thing within minutes to seconds of each other. It’s especially absurd when it regards a career third string quarterback, as the example below the fold demonstrates: Continue reading Here’s An Idea For The “Sources” Of The NFL

Which Teams Are Underrepresented And Overrepresented In The Pro Football Hall Of Fame?

If you’re a Denver Broncos fan, then the Pro Football Hall of Fame is likely a sore subject for you.  This is because you know that despite having the 9th best record in the NFL as long as they’ve existed, and the 2nd best since the merger, the Broncos have only four players of significance in the Hall of Fame.  In recent years, this hasn’t gotten any better.  Last year in particular was the mother of all gutshots: Jerome Bettis and his 3.9 yards per average career compilation was inducted over Terrell Davis–and to add insult to injury, a Chief, Charger, and Raider all got inducted at the same time.  This weekend, we will see another year in which Davis couldn’t get past the finalist round, and yet another Raider gets inducted.

So, as we approach Hall of Fame weekend, I figured it would be prudent to put this disrespect to the test: just how much more attention should the Broncos, and other teams, be getting from Canton?  And which teams have gotten too much attention? Continue reading Which Teams Are Underrepresented And Overrepresented In The Pro Football Hall Of Fame?