Via Jason Fitzgerald’s notes on CJ Anderson’s player page:
After further investigation of the contract it looks as if Anderson received a roster bonus rather than a signing bonus as initially reported which makes his first year salary cap number to be $6 million.
Continue reading OTC: CJ Anderson Received A Roster Bonus Instead Of A Signing Bonus
Broncos have informed RB CJ Anderson they are matching Miami's offer sheet, per source. He stays in Denver.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2016
John Elway has confirmed the news.
Just got off the phone w/CJ & let him know we're excited to match the offer sheet. We have high expectations for CJ and are glad he's back!
— John Elway (@johnelway) March 15, 2016
UPDATE, 2:45 PM MT: Mike Klis has now clarified the details of Anderson’s new contract. In a tabular form, it should look like this:
| Base Salary (Guaranteed) | Prorated Bonus | Workout Bonus | Cap Number | Dead Money (pre-June 1 cut) | Cap Savings (pre-June 1 cut) |
| $675,000 | $1,312,500 | $100,000 | $2,087,500 | $7,625,000 | ($5,537,500) |
| $2,900,000 $1,700,000 |
$1,312,500 | $100,000 | $4,312,500 | $5,637,500 | ($1,325,000) |
| $4,500,000 | $1,312,500 | $0 | $5,812,500 | $2,625,000 | $3,187,500 |
| $4,500,000 | $1,312,500 | $0 | $5,812,500 | $1,312,500 | $4,500,000 |
Ware and #Broncos finish re-structure, he got 2M to sign … He and team see his role as third-down rusher. Important player in locker room.
— Jeff Legwold (@Jeff_Legwold) March 12, 2016
I am using “alter” in my title here (previously “rework” if you look at the URL and tweet), because “restructure” is often poorly used by the media. “Restructuring” should only be used to refer to the act of converting non-prorated salary into a signing bonus. In Ware’s case, his contract cannot be restructured unless it was extended, as he only had one year left on his deal. In order to save salary cap space, Ware either had to agree to an extension (either real, or fake by using void years), or he had to take a pay cut. We will soon see what is the full truth.
UPDATE, 2:20 PM MT: It is indeed a pay cut (of $3.5 million) that can be earned back from incentives. Bob posted some numbers by Albert Breer’s that gave an early glimpse at Ware’s pay cut.
UPDATE 2, 3:20 PM MT: Mike Florio is now reporting that Ware has $4 million fully guaranteed, not $2 million as initially speculated. Ware’s 2016 contract year should now look like this:
| Base Salary (Guaranteed) |
Prorated Bonus | Roster Bonus* | Cap Number | Dead Money (if cut)* | Cap Savings (if cut)* |
| $4,000,000 ($2,000,000) |
$3,666,668 | $500,000 | $8,166,668 | $5,666,668 | $2,500,000 |
*It is unclear when Ware’s roster bonus is precisely due.
One interesting aspect is that the Broncos only guaranteed $2 million of Ware’s salary in exchange for the $3.5 million pay cut. Hypothetically, should the Broncos decide before the regular season that Ware isn’t worth an additional $4-4.5 million (depending on the timing of the roster bonus being due), Ware could still be cut before then. I see that as highly unlikely, but the option is there.
I’ve struck out the paragraph above because if Ware does indeed have an addition $2 million in guaranteed base salary, $5.66 million in dead money is not quite as appealing in exchange for only $2.5 million in cap savings. As Florio speculated, this likely provides some security to Ware against being cut prior to the regular season.
Should Ware earn any of his incentives, they should be charged as a negative adjustment to Denver’s 2017 salary cap, as Peyton Manning’s $4 million Super Bowl bonus was charged in 2016.
NFL Communications released the 2016 compensatory picks for the 2016 NFL Draft, and as happily projected, the Broncos will receive an additional 3rd, 4th, and 6th round selections. It is my belief that these pick are compensation, respectively, for losing Julius Thomas, Orlando Franklin, and Terrance Knighton in free agency in 2015. The Broncos now have 10 selections in the 2016 NFL Draft.
I will have a longer evaluation on my projection at Over The Cap later today, but one unique observation I want to make with respect to the Broncos is that this may be the first year since compensatory picks were founded that there were no 7th round comp picks awarded. That means that the famous Mr. Irrelevant pick, unless it’s traded, will go to your Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos. The Broncos have never held the Mr. Irrelevant pick in their entire history.
The overall positions of the Broncos’ 2016 draft picks are as follows:
| Round | Overall | Notes |
| 1 | #31 | |
| 2 | #63 | |
| 3 | #94 | |
| 3 | #98 | Compensatory (Julius Thomas) |
| 4 | #136 | Compensatory (Orlando Franklin) |
| 5 | #144 | from Baltimore |
| 6 | #219 | Compensatory (Terrance Knighton) |
| 7 | #228 | from San Francisco |
| 7 | #235 | from Los Angeles via Houston |
| 7 | #253 | Mr. Irrelevant |
Brock Osweiler is now a Houston Texan, signing a contract reported to be in the range of $18 million per year. There’s already a lot of innuendo on why Osweiler chose to leave Denver. Mike Klis, for example, reported that there was a lack of communication from Osweiler over the past two weeks. There’s been rampant speculation that Osweiler may have been upset from being benched in the Chargers game on Week 17 of 2015.
I’m going to take nothing more than a guess on why I think Osweiler chose the Texans over the Broncos. However, my hope is that this is an Occam’s Razor type of guess. My guess is that Jimmy Sexton thought that the Broncos severely lowballed Osweiler with the initial offer in the $13-15 million per year range. And as Houston proved today, and Philadelphia proved with Sam Bradford a week ago, Sexton was correct if he came to that conclusion. Once it was clear the Broncos weren’t going to breach $18 million, there was likely no need for either side to seriously negotiate further.
Now, I’m perfectly fine with the Broncos holding firm and refusing to sign Osweiler to an $18 million per year plus deal. John Elway is excellent about standing firm and not getting the team in trouble by overpaying. That’s what makes him one of the best GMs in the business. And of course, the Broncos proved without a shadow of a doubt that you can win Super Bowls with a dominant defense amid mediocre quarterback play.
However, I think the Broncos would also be wise to accept the fact that there simply is no existing mid-level market for veteran starting QBs. So many of us at Thin Air thought Osweiler could be had with a Nick Foles contract, but we were all dead wrong: Foles, along with Tom Brady, have become outliers. Excluding them, the veteran starters start at $16 million per year and go up from there. As Osweiler proved, even $16 million per year may now be too cheap.
So what’s the conclusion I’m coming to? Before I get there, allow me to comment on some actions that I would not take.
That leaves the Broncos with picking from a motley crew of remaining quarterbacks on the market. I would prefer Robert Griffin III simply because he has the most upside, and that because he was cut, he would count against the Broncos in their 2017 compensatory pick formula. However, perhaps I could be persuaded on another option.
But even if Griffin or someone else is acquired, that’s clearly not enough insurance at the position. Thus, here’s the primary conclusion I’m at now: draft a quarterback with the 31st overall pick. And in fact, don’t be afraid to trade up a bit if there’s good reason to believe that another team in the high second round thinks about trading back into the first round. And take him in the first round, so you can take advantage of that economic fifth year option.
If the Broncos really want the quarterback position to take up a smaller amount of the salary cap, this is the only realistic path to take. That’s how the Colts are free riding on Andrew Luck despite taking him first overall. That’s how the Seahawks free rode on Russell Wilson for several seasons. Of course, it is much easier said than done to hit on that rookie quarterback. However, thanks to the veteran quarterback premium, it may very well be the only path to take if the Broncos want to continue to prove the mantra of defense winning championships.
This will be primarily a devil’s advocate post. I still strongly believe that it’s in the best interest of the Broncos to secure a contract extension with Von Miller right now to take advantage of gaining 2016 cap space. However, I’m resigned to the fact that this likely won’t happen, and the more likely scenario is for this to follow the same arc as Ryan Clady and Demaryius Thomas: place a franchise tender on Miller now, with an extension ultimately coming before the July 15 deadline.
However, I’m going to explore what benefits there may be to letting Miller play out the 2016 season on the franchise tag.
Continue reading A Counterpoint On The Von Miller Contract Negotiations
UPDATE: (10:15 MT) While I was writing this, Jason Fitzgerald gave his own take on OTC. I recommend reading his article as well as good complementary material, as it’s more technical and less Broncos-centric than my own.
We all know that Von Miller is going to get paid. The only question will be how much. When insiders started suggesting the quote in the title, I took that news with little surprise or alarm. That’s because Miller’s floor was always going to be Justin Houston’s deal agreed upon with the Chiefs last offseason. Houston is the second highest paid player by APY, and the fourth highest in full guarantees. With a floor that high, why not set your ceiling as high as possible if you’re Miller’s camp?
Continue reading Can Von Miller Become “The Highest Paid Defensive Player In Football”?
So we’re three days away from the Super Bowl, and no matter what happens, that will the conclusion of the Broncos’ outstanding 2015 season. For John Elway and the front office, there will be time to either celebrate or grieve, but that time will be limited. That’s because Elway will face what will easily be the most challenging offseason during his tenure as general manager. There is much that needs to be done, and it needs to be done in only a month’s time, as the start of the 2016 league year—and thus free agency—is on March 9.
So, because I may not get time to post this promptly after the Super Bowl, I’ll provide you with my 17-point road map as to how I would navigate the rocky offseason terrain that lies immediately ahead. Suffice to say, with 17 points it’s highly likely that not all of them will be fulfilled to my satisfaction, either to Elway wanting a different direction or players disagreeing on their value. But barring something truly extraordinary on Sunday I doubt the Super Bowl is going to change my mind much. Continue reading 2016 Broncos Offseason Road Map
You can find the details, all in their glory, at this link. You know the big picture for the Broncos by now, but there are three Broncos-centric points that I’ll emphasize here:
Ian Rapaport has the screenshots of both changes:
Continue reading Changes To Trading Compensatory Picks, Tampering Rules Approved