Myers talks stall but don't fizzle out

Broncos express a desire to keep him, agent says

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 24, 2007 at midnight

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INDIANAPOLIS - The Broncos are in a holding pattern with one of their top pending free agents.

Eugene Parker, the agent for defensive tackle Michael Myers, said Friday that there has been no contact for several weeks on a potential new deal for his client, though the team has expressed an interest in having the veteran player back.

"The only thing I can really say is that they feel Mike had a good year, and he's a priority moving forward," Parker said. "But I really haven't talked to them about anything substantive yet."

Myers has been a solid starter for two seasons in Denver since the Broncos acquired him via trade along with Ebenezer Eku- ban. He led all the club's defensive linemen in tackles, with 80, starting every game in 2006.

In a thin defensive tackle market, Myers figures to secure a decent offer. Parker said there is a chance he and Denver general manager Ted Sundquist will meet here during the next several days and that Myers doesn't necessarily have to hit the free- agent market, because Myers has professed that he wants to stay.

"The benefit sometimes in free agency is helping you understand what the market value is, because you can find out," Parker said. "I've got a great working relationship with Ted, so I don't see any reason we can't get to wherever we need to get to there."

Among the interior defensive linemen about to go free, Denver appears to have gravitated toward New Orleans' Hollis Thomas among possible targets. But that won't necessarily preclude Myers from returning.

The team also is expected to initiate discussions on reworking Gerard Warren's contract. Warren is due a $2.37 million roster bonus. But should Warren balk at redoing his deal, his accelerated bonuses would total nearly $6 million, so cutting him wouldn't make much sense with Denver already without the cap room of many other teams.

Either way, Parker feels good about Myers' situation.

"He's a productive guy," he said. "The thing he has going for him is that he can play a variety of positions, and he's a great team guy. That's important."

ON THE MEND: Broncos head athletic trainer Steve Antonopulos said the recovery of left tackle Matt Lepsis from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee is progressing well.

Lepsis needed microfracture surgery Nov. 7. But three months into his rehabilitation, he's running in a therapeutic pool and is on target for a full recovery by training camp, though there's a good three more months of recovery time ahead of him.

"Until he gets back on the field, there's always doubts," Antonopulos said when asked whether there's any trepidation about Lepsis returning to form. "But he's done everything we've asked. He hasn't had any apprehension and hasn't had any complications. So everything's going according to schedule."

Safety Sam Brandon also had microfracture surgery after tearing his right ACL in November and has been working out with Lepsis on a similar timetable.

In other injury-related news, safety Nick Ferguson (left knee surgery) should be ready for the April 2 start of the team's offseason conditioning program. Middle linebacker Al Wilson could join him around that time. His recovery period from a second surgery to repair a broken thumb, which this time included a bone graft, knocked him out of the Pro Bowl.

WAITING GAME: A decision on whether Denver running backs coach Bobby Turner will be offered the vacant Dolphins offensive coordinator position should be resolved in the "the near future," according to new Miami head coach Cam Cameron.

That interview process is ongoing, and the possibility exists Cameron will handle coordinator duties himself, because he said he'll be the primary play- caller.

"I'd prefer not to talk through the media when it comes to people you've talked to, but obviously I've had a chance to sit down with Bobby Turner, and I think it's important to know that I've known him since I was 13 years old," Cameron said. "A lot of people aren't aware of that, but there's a long relationship there. We're going to let the process continue, and as soon as something needs to be said, we'll do that."

Cameron's stepfather gave Turner his first college coaching job at Indiana State.

"Maybe that's a story down the road," Cameron said, adding Turner is "one of the finest coaches" in the NFL.

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