A couple of transactions to discuss immediately before training camp:
The #Broncos are signing former #Ravens WR Marlon Brown to a 1-year deal, @UniSportsMgmt tells me. Gary Kubiak coached him in Baltimore.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 27, 2016
Aqib Talib will start training camp on NFL Non-football injury list
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) July 27, 2016
This is a thread that I wanted to create before training camp starts: here’s a situational football question that I’ve had tucked away in my mind for quite some time that I’ll present as a riddle. After this is answered, if anyone else has some other good football riddles to ask, feel free to submit them in the comment section.
Team A is leading Team B by a score of 24-23. They have the ball with only ten seconds left in the game after a timeout–but, they are backed up at their own 1-yard line and face a 4th and very long.
Tell me your plans for both Team A and Team B on this play.
If you’re having trouble posting tweets in comments, please read this post. Continue reading Tweet To Image Utility
ESPN’s Mike Sando released a comprehensive article on Monday logging how minority representation at the NFL’s highest coaching levels has again lagged behind the general minority populace of NFL players and coaches, thus bringing into question of the efficacy of the Rooney Rule, or whether it is being executed faithfully. This, in turn, launched a spirited debate over here. This is a subject that I have natural interest in as an NFL fan, but one that I knew I couldn’t just shoot at the hip on. So I spent yesterday listening and thinking, then slept on it before writing this article. Continue reading Whither The Rooney Rule?
The final two years of the contract are option seasons. Denver has until the final day of the prior League year to pick up each option season. If the options are exercised Miller will have $6 million and $7 million of his 2020 and 2021 salaries become guaranteed.
As we’ve discussed before, this has become modus operandi for the Broncos in negotiating major extensions. Such team options also exist on the extended contracts of Demaryius Thomas, Derek Wolfe, and Brandon Marshall. The purpose of a team option like this is to have the contract void instead terminated should the Broncos wish to part ways at that time. Such contract voids allow the player to qualify for the compensatory pick formula, of which the Patriots took heavy advantage of for their 2016 comp pick slate. The Ravens also set up a similar option on Mike Wallace this offseason. As long as this loophole in the formula exists, I expect the Broncos, Ravens, and Patriots to continue to exploit it, and other teams may soon follow suit.
As we continue to celebrate the Von Miller extension, here’s some light weekend trivia questions for you:
UPDATE: Congrats to Kndh19 for working through and answering all four questions correctly! The answers are now posted at the bottom of this article.
UPDATE (2:30 PM MT): Miller actually got a $17 million signing bonus and $6 million roster bonus in 2016. This post has been corrected to adjust accordingly.
Per contract details reported by Mike Klis, the breakdown of Von Miller’s new six-year, $114.5 million extension will looks similar to this:
| Year | Salary/Roster Bonus* (Gtd) |
Prorated Bonus | Cap Number | Dead Money (pre 6/1) |
Cap Savings |
| 2016 | $8,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $11,400,000 | $42,000,000 | ($30,600,000) |
| 2017 | $17,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $20,400,000 | $30,600,000 | ($10,100,000) |
| 2018 | $19,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $22,400,000 | $29,800,000 | ($6,800,000) |
| 2019 | $17,500,000 | $3,400,000 | $20,900,000 | $15,800,000 | $5,100,000 |
| 2020 | $18,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $21,400,000 | $3,400,000 | $18,000,000 |
| 2021 | $18,000,000 | $18,000,000 | $0 | $18,000,000 |
*Klis did not specify the breakdown between base salary and roster bonuses in his report, but for purposes of the salary cap this is irrelevant. What it will mean is that Miller gets more money in his pocket before each season starts from whatever money is assigned to the roster bonus in question.
Let’s take a look at the facts, and then I’ll cast some opinions on what it could it could mean for the Broncos’ future:
Per contract details reported by Mike Klis, Von Miller’s contract table should look similar to this. You can find my longer take on the deal here.
| Year | Salary/Roster Bonus* (Gtd) |
Prorated Bonus | Cap Number | Dead Money (pre 6/1) |
Cap Savings |
| 2016 | $8,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $11,400,000 | $42,000,000 | ($30,600,000) |
| 2017 | $17,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $20,400,000 | $30,600,000 | ($10,100,000) |
| 2018 | $19,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $22,400,000 | $29,800,000 | ($6,800,000) |
| 2019 | $17,500,000 | $3,400,000 | $20,900,000 | $15,800,000 | $5,100,000 |
| 2020 | $18,000,000 | $3,400,000 | $21,400,000 | $3,400,000 | $18,000,000 |
| 2021 | $18,000,000 | $18,000,000 | $0 | $18,000,000 |
*Klis did not specify the breakdown between base salary and roster bonuses in his report, but for purposes of the salary cap this is irrelevant. What it will mean is that Miller gets more money in his pocket before each season starts from whatever money is assigned to the roster bonus in question. Continue reading Broncos Extend Von Miller
If you’ve watched the NFL for long enough, you’ll know that being among the most successful teams does not necessarily guarantee that you’ll be among the most watched teams. The decision on who gets in the most prominent TV spots depends on several factors, some of which are maddening to consider at times. So in another fun adventure with data while we await training camp, I was curious to see just how much correlation there has been between the two.
As we burn away the last vestiges of the dead season, and await a resolution on Von Miller’s contract, I put together some quick data crunching on a curious question. Most of us can identify the best and most dominant stretches by teams in NFL history. But identifying some of the worst stretches can be elusive, so I decided to put together a list of ineptitude. Continue reading The Worst Eras In Post-Merger NFL History