HEADLINES

Chris Kuper

Cap Work Remaining For Broncos

July 5th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Matt Feminis

Until rosters are cut down to 53 players, teams are required to be under the $133MM salary cap with their top 51 salaries. In the wake of an aggressive offseason which included signing big-ticket free agents Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, DeMarcus Ware and Emmanuel Sanders, the Broncos’ top 51 costs $132MM, meaning John Elway and Co. have some bookkeeping to do between now and the end of training camp, explains ESPN’s Jeff Legwold.

Key points:

  • The team is trying to lock up free agents-to-be Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas long-term.
  • Including rollover, the team has about $4.6MM of workable cap space.
  • “Quarterback Peyton Manning has the team’s highest cap figure, at $17.5 million and the Broncos have the biggest cap gap of any position between starter and backup with No. 2 Brock Osweiler, still on his rookie deal, coming in at $959,094 against the cap.”
  • The team has seven tight ends on the roster, five of which — including Thomas, Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen — are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in 2015.
  • “Dead money” hits include Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie ($2.1MM), Chris Kuper ($1.83MM) and Willis McGahee ($500k).
  • Terrance Knighton‘s representatives were seeking a renegotiation of his contract which calls for him to make $2.75MM in 2014 before the big defensive lineman hits free agency, but the team did not acquiesce.
  • Kicker Matt Prater and punter Britton Colquitt will cost a combined $7.4MM against the cap this season.

Chris Kuper To Retire

March 10th, 2014 at 5:06pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Veteran Broncos guard Chris Kuper will retire, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post. Kuper, 31, was a fifth-round-pick in 2006, and has spent all eight of his NFL seasons in Denver. He became a full-time starter in 2007, and remained a mainstay on the offensive line until he dislocated his ankle late in 2011. He would have been entering the final season of a five-year, $25.5MM deal he signed in June 2010.

Although Louis Vasquez is now firmly entrenched at right guard, Kuper’s announcement adds more intrigue to a Broncos offseason that is already in flux. Left guard Zane Beadles is a free agent, and left tackle Ryan Clady will be returning from a torn ACL. The Broncos offense also faces a decision on running back Knowshon Moreno, and the likely defection of receiver Eric Decker.