Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay is one of the best stories of the past several seasons. The Colorado native is the first undrafted free agent to begin his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns, and although he is under contract through 2020, his UDFA status makes him eligible for an extension now.
We heard in December that Denver GM John Elway would explore a new contract for Lindsay this offseason, and Lindsay himself — who is due a considerably below-market $660K salary in 2020 — would obviously like that to happen sooner rather than later. However, Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post says a new deal for the Broncos’ RB1 is on the back-burner for the time being.
The two sides may enter into negotiations at some point before the start of the regular season, but not until after free agency and the draft. Elway wants to see how much cap space he has after the bulk of his offseason business has been conducted.
“We would like to be able to do something,” Elway said. “Obviously, Phillip’s been great. If we can do something, we’ll try.”
It doesn’t sound like there’s a ton of urgency on Elway’s end, and that makes sense to a degree. Even if a new deal is not struck before the end of the 2020 season, Lindsay would only be eligible for restricted free agency, so he could be retained with a fairly modest RFA tender.
But the diminutive Lindsay has been terrific for Denver, averaging 4.9 yards per carry over his first two seasons in the league and racking up 17 total TDs. He battled a wrist injury throughout the 2019 campaign but underwent surgery on the wrist in January. He is expected to be fully recovered in time for spring workouts.
He did decline a bit last year but I’d consider this a chance to lock up a good RB to a below market extension if you do it this early
Several or couple?