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Shanahan: Broncos will dot i's, cross t's with draft picks despite labor woes

Top rookies to sign, veteran coach says

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 10, 2008 at 5:10 p.m.
Updated June 11, 2008 at 1:23 p.m.

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Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan said Tuesday: "Our feeling is, everybody's in the same boat - you want to get guys signed and in camp."

Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan said Tuesday: "Our feeling is, everybody's in the same boat - you want to get guys signed and in camp."

Broncos rookie offensive linemen Ryan Clady, left, and Kory Lichtensteiger run through a drill Wednesday. As the players neared the end of this week's workouts, coach Mike Shanahan expressed confidence that the team will be able to sign all of its high-profile rookies by the first training-camp practice July 25.

Photo by Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Broncos rookie offensive linemen Ryan Clady, left, and Kory Lichtensteiger run through a drill Wednesday. As the players neared the end of this week's workouts, coach Mike Shanahan expressed confidence that the team will be able to sign all of its high-profile rookies by the first training-camp practice July 25.

Click to enlarge: Since Mike Shanahan became Broncos coach in 1995, five of the team’s first-round picks have missed the start of training camp.

Click to enlarge: Since Mike Shanahan became Broncos coach in 1995, five of the team’s first-round picks have missed the start of training camp.

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There are truckloads of pessimism being carted around the NFL these days that uncertainty regarding the league's long-term labor future will keep some high-profile rookies off the field because of holdouts when training camps open next month.

But Broncos coach Mike Shanahan says he believes he'll get all the names on the dotted lines right on time.

"Sure, I've heard, like everybody else, what's out there, but we'll get our deals done," Shanahan said Tuesday after a team workout at the Broncos' Dove Valley complex. We'll do what we need to do and get them done."

But when owners voted last month to opt out of the current collective-bargaining agreement, making 2010 the final season of the deal, there were many contract negotiators who said that there were some obstacles to getting first-round picks, especially those taken among the top 16, under contract.

That's certainly relevant to the Broncos, who selected left tackle Ryan Clady at No. 12. Clady, the second tackle taken after Michigan's Jake Long, is working with the starters as the Broncos go through their team camps, so the Broncos would like him to get as much practice time in training camp as possible.

Clady simply said he "would rely on my agent (Pat Dye Jr.) to get it all worked out."

"Our feeling is, everybody's in the same boat - you want to get guys signed and in camp," Shanahan said. "Even with the situation, I just don't see we're going to have anything that would get in the way. Right now, I don't foresee any problems."

When owners opted out of the labor deal, it prevented teams, by league rules, from fully guaranteeing any money in a deal in 2013. That's the sixth year of any contract signed by this year's rookie class and also the most common length of deals for rookies in the upper half of the first round.

So teams have to find other ways of spreading around bonus money to count the contracts against the salary cap. Quarterback Matt Ryan (Atlanta) and running back Darren McFadden (Oakland), the third and fourth picks, signed six-year deals.

Long, who was selected No. 1 by Miami, signed a five-year deal with the Dolphins. The Broncos have had preliminary discussions with Clady's representatives in recent weeks.

They also haven't had a draft pick miss any time in training camp because of a contract impasse since linebacker D.J. Williams missed one practice in 2004.

The Broncos are hoping to avoid any missed time, given their desire to start Clady from Day One in one of the most difficult positions in the game for a rookie. Clady, too, said it was a priority for him to "be in on time."

The Buffalo Bills selected running back Marshawn Lynch with the No. 12 pick in 2007. But Lynch was the last player in that draft to sign, after he agreed to a six-year deal that could be worth as much as $18.9 million.

The deal, which will be similar to Clady's in that draft spot with the expected bump for a player selected the next year, included $10,275,000 in guaranteed money.

"And, right now, I don't see any issues," Shanahan said.

ETC.: Tight end Tony Scheffler, who had missed most of the on-field team workouts in the minicamps because of a foot injury, practiced on a limited basis Tuesday. Scheffler also did an extensive conditioning workout after practice. . . . Shanahan has told the team a scheduled minicamp for July 7-8 has been canceled. So when the Broncos are done with their last on-field practice Thursday - the team will have its annual bowling outing Friday - that will be their last full-team workout until their first training-camp practice July 25. The players will report for training camp July 24. Conditioning work for the players will resume later this month and go into early July.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

Comments

  • June 11, 2008

    9:21 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    RustyWon writes:

    There should be a rookie cap.
    Everyone drafted is slotted into a set contract, and then when they excel, they can get the big bucks.
    When they are a bust, they don't.

    This would also allot more money for the veterans who are playmakers to get paid.

    Rookies who have never taken the field should not get paid more than the Mannings and Bradys out there.
    This upsets the balance of the salary cap.

  • June 11, 2008

    10:37 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Orange_Crush18 writes:

    Completely agree Rusty. I can't believe that seeting a cap on rookies is not already in place. It's such a gamble to put that much money on someone that is unproven. But in the event that one of these rookies with a high salary does succeed, they will demand even more money in the future, the players of equal quality will want to be compensated equally or a competative salary. In hence driving up the salaries of every player and busting cap space quickly. I'm all for the players to make money, they make plenty of it. But I'm also for the owner's to pull in their far share as well. The owner's are the only one's that are held accountable if a team folds, it's there money on the line. They should be compensated for that risk. It's a business

  • June 11, 2008

    12:22 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    Couldn't agree more with Rusty and Orange_Crush!!

    Well said!!

  • June 11, 2008

    12:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mrfxx writes:

    The ceilings - or lack thereof - for rookies in many sports just adds to the sense of entitlement that many seem to have (which often has been given them since their Pop Warner days). I don't know what the answer is - perhaps perfomance bonuses if the rookie is really good added to a cap based on perhaps how the player was ranked at his position (as opposed to where he was taken in the draft). Just a thought.

  • June 11, 2008

    2:55 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    GreeleyNugz writes:

    These kids have worked their whole lives to get to this point. Some players are worth more then others. I will agree that they dont deserve to get paid more then mannings or bradys. But I also think that it would be stupid to pay a 1st round draft pick the same amount as a 6th round draft pick just because theyre both rookies!

  • June 11, 2008

    4:08 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    myerda00 writes:

    Hey GreeleyN...
    You have it wrong. A 1 and 7 would not be paid the same. It would be a scale from 1-7 for the first year. Then each team could adjust on contribution for years 2 and 3. I do not know how bonuses would work because then teams would start throwing around big money again.

  • June 11, 2008

    5:04 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Orange_Crush18 writes:

    GreeleyNugz, Proven players in the league have been just as long plus the years in the league. The established vets should be payed more. Also, no one said anything about them making the same as a 6th rounder. A first rounder, instead of making 30 mil could make 1-5 mil. That is still way more than a 6 rounder. A six rounder recieves 50K to 250K in signing bonuses. There is still a seperation. All we are saying is that the seperation does not need to be so extreme. I mean when it's all said and done all college players have the same thing in common - They have yet to played a single NFL down.

  • June 12, 2008

    9:34 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    broncodano writes:

    Rookies should make 100g their first year.

    period. Players are still drafted the same way, best guys first, but the salary should be decided AFTER A YEAR OF SERVICE to the league.

    That way you dont get the bilion dollar busts that we have in this league.

    i never buy a car i dont drive first..

    bd