John Bowlen, the younger brother of Broncos majority owner Pat Bowlen, is aiming to sell his minority stake (30-35%) in the club, sources tell Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. John Bowlen’s decision to sell wouldn’t necessarily affect the day-to-day operations of the Broncos, as Pat Bowlen — who stepped down as principal owner in 2014 due to Alzheimer’s disease — would still hold the majority of the team and be entitled to designate one of his children as his successor. But John Bowlen reportedly believes the Bronocs are “not being run the way Pat would have run it in many, many capacities” and wants a new owner in charge, per Jhabvala.
Here’s more from the AFC as Week 4 draws to a close:
- Although the Jets re-signed offensive Ben Ijalana to a two-year deal this spring, they’ve barely used him through four weeks of the 2017, leading Rich Cimini of ESPN.com to wonder if Gang Green could place Ijalana on the trade block. An acquiring club would only be responsible for the rest of Ijalana’s $1MM base salary this season plus $4.75MM (all non-guaranteed) in 2018. New York, meanwhile, would take on $2.5MM in dead money over the next two seasons by dealing Ijalana. Now in his age-28 campaign, Ijalana started 13 games in 2016 and is capable of playing either left or right tackle, but he’s played only five offensive snaps this season.
- Under the terms of his four-year deal with the Chargers, edge rusher Melvin Ingram can collect a $1MM bonus if registers 12.5 sacks or earns a Pro Bowl nod, tweets veteran NFL reporter Adam Caplan. Through four games, Ingram has already posted 5.5 sacks (though he didn’t manage any against the Eagles today), so he should have a good shot at collecting that bonus. Ingram is Pro Football Focus‘ No. 9-rated edge defender thus far in 2017.
- Rookie running back Kareem Hunt was advised to return to college following the 2015 season before entering the draft and being selected by the Chiefs in the third round in 2017, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com writes. Hunt, of course, leads the NFL in rushing yards through three games and would arguably be the favorite for MVP if the season ended today. As La Canfora details, Hunt re-tooled his body prior to his senior season at Toledo and posted more than 1,800 yards from scrimmage in his final collegiate campaign.
- The Ravens had planned to promote fullback Ricky Ortiz from their practice squad and integrate him as a large part of their offensive gameplan in Week 4, but an Ortiz injury prevented that transaction from going through, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Baltimore doesn’t currently have a fullback on its roster, but it did use Kyle Juszczyk enough in 2016 that he became the NFL’s highest-paid FB with the 49ers. Ortiz is a 2017 undrafted free agent out of Oregon State.