Clock now ticking on Lelie, Broncos

If Broncos' Lelie doesn't report today, fines begin

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, July 27, 2006

ENGLEWOOD - As of this afternoon, the meter officially will be running on receiver Ashley Lelie's standoff with the Broncos.

Broncos players report today to the team's Dove Valley complex for training camp, with the first mandatory gathering a team meeting late this afternoon. And according to Lelie's agent, Denver-based Peter Schaffer, Lelie still has not decided if he will or will not report before the team's first practice Friday morning.

Lelie previously has told the Rocky Mountain News he would stay away until deep in the season if necessary, but he now is facing fines that have more than doubled from what they were last year.

Schaffer said Wednesday he still was "working on getting a trade done" and said the situation is "day to day."

He has talked with several teams in recent weeks, including the Bears, Eagles, 49ers and Titans in scenarios that have included some multiple-team deals, but no team has offered what the Broncos want.

The Broncos are known to have inquired about defensive linemen and tight ends in some of those trade talks. They also have asked for a high draft pick (first or second round) or a front-line starter in return for Lelie.

Schaffer still was fielding calls Wednesday night to try to find Lelie a new team.

Lelie, assessed more than $11,000 in fines for missing the Broncos' mandatory minicamp earlier this month, will face a fine of $14,000 a day during training camp until he reports if no trade is completed.

The Broncos are expected to send Lelie a letter formally notifying him of the fine - a league requirement - as soon as he misses a mandatory day.

That total would be more than $600,000 - roughly Lelie's scheduled base salary for the season in his original contract - if he stays away until the start of the regular season. The Broncos also are expected to try to recover some of Lelie's original signing bonus if he stays away after the season begins.

Lelie is believed to be in Denver and could report today if he chooses.

He has been frustrated with his potential role in the offense since the Broncos acquired Javon Walker, then signed him to a long-term deal. The Broncos also used two picks in April's draft on receivers.

Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist and coach Mike Shanahan could not be reached for comment.

Shanahan has said Lelie's absence from the team's offseason program is a product of "bad advice."

The Broncos, who, like every other team, only received formal notification of the new fine rules Tuesday, likely will get a clarification on all their options with Lelie under the new collective bargaining agreement Monday.

That's when personnel executives and salary cap managers from every team are scheduled to be on a conference call with NFL officials to go over the new collective bargaining agreement.

The CBA was agreed to in March and ratified by both sides. But attorneys for the union and the league have been ironing out the fine points of the document since - things such as the new list of fines that was agreed to last week.

Also Wednesday, the Broncos continued to work on deals for their seven-player draft class.

The Broncos finished contracts with two of their three fourth-round picks - receiver Brandon Marshall and defensive end Elvis Dumervil - as well as sixth-round pick center Greg Eslinger.

Marshall and Dumervil each signed four-year deals - that included the rookie minimum base salaries of $275,000, $360,000, $445,000 and $530,000 for the four years. Marshall's signing bonus was $420,000, Dumervil's $399,000.

Terms on Eslinger's four-year deal were not immediately available.

Dumervil in particular was a priority for the team to get done on time. After leading Division I-A with 20 sacks last season, Dumervil is expected to be in the Broncos rotation in the defensive line from the start.

During the team's minicamps in June and earlier this month, he lined up with the starters at defensive end and defensive tackle in some passing situations.

Deals for tight end Tony Scheffler (a third-round pick), receiver Domenik Hixon (fourth round) and guard Chris Kuper (fifth round) are expected to be completed as soon as this morning.

The Broncos have offered Hixon a four-year deal, but players around Hixon in the fourth round might be influencing the talks. The player selected just behind him, Steelers offensive lineman Willie Colon, signed a three-year deal.

And the player selected in front of Hixon, Giants offensive tackle Guy Whimper, is represented by the same agency as Hixon - Domann and Pittman - and also is unsigned.

Negotiations with their first- round pick, quarterback Jay Cutler, continued, and Cutler's agent, Bus Cook, said "we'll see."

Cook has an eye on the Arizona Cardinals' negotiations with quarterback Matt Leinart, who was selected at No. 10 in the April draft, one pick ahead of Cutler.

However, the Cardinals don't report for training camp until Sunday, and that could cost Cutler three days of training camp, possibly more if he and Cook wait until Leinart's deal is finished.

Leinart is the Cardinals' only unsigned draft pick.

Cook and the Broncos are working off the framework of Ben Roethlisberger's six-year deal with the Steelers in 2004.

Like Cutler, Roethlisberger was the 11th player selected in the draft and the third quarterback taken in the first round.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2359.