HEADLINES

Virgil Green

Broncos Re-Sign Johnson, Will Host Daniels

March 10th, 2015 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Broncos have reached an agreement to re-sign linebacker Steven Johnson, who had been eligible for restricted free agency, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post. Rather than tendering him an offer worth $1.542MM, the team appears to have worked out a one-year deal worth less than that.

Johnson saw an increased role on the defensive side of the ball in the second half of the 2014 season, playing in 215 total snaps on defense for the Broncos. Typically though, he has primarily been a special teams contributor — he recorded 11 tackles in kick and punt coverage last season.

In addition to re-signing Johnson, the Broncos have also been busy trying to fill the void left by the departing Julius Thomas at tight end. According to Klis, tight end Owen Daniels, who has a long history with new Denver coach Gary Kubiak, will visit with the team on Wednesday.

While the Broncos appear set to lose Thomas to Jacksonville, the team seems to be in good position to bring back its other free agent tight end. Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports that the Broncos are the frontrunners to sign Virgil Green, who is weighing strong interest from multiple teams and is close to making a decision.

NFC North Rumors: McCourty, Green, Packers

March 9th, 2015 at 9:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Though Devin McCourty ultimately re-signed with the Patriots, two NFC North clubs were hot on his trail. The Bears were involved until the bidding got above $9MM per year, says Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), while the Vikings also had interest, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

Here’s more from the NFC North:

  • Free agent tight end Virgil Green will have a strong market, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, and he’ll probably decide between the Bears and Broncos, though other teams are interested.
  • Restricted free agent offensive lineman Don Barclay hasn’t heard if the Packers will tender him, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link). If Bryan Bulaga isn’t re-signed, Barclay would likely become Green Bay’s starting right tackle, so Demovsky believes that GB will ultimately offer him a contract.
  • Lest we forget long snappers are people too, Biggs reports (via Twitter) that the Bears are interested in long snapper Tanner Purdum, who spent 2014 with the Jets.

Virgil Green Receives Offer From Broncos

March 7th, 2015 at 5:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the expected departure of their two-year starting tight end, the Broncos are making a push to retain their backup.

Virgil Green has six to eight “serious suitors” with one being the team that drafted him in the sixth round in 2011, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post.

Julius Thomas could draw as much as a $9MM-per-year offer, which would take up nearly half of the Broncos’ remaining cap space. Green, who is a superior blocker and saw his role increase as Denver deviated to a run-first offense last year, could max out at barely a third of that per-year figure, although the parameters of the four-year backup’s offer aren’t known.

Despite making just six receptions last year for less than 100 yards, Green graded as Pro Football Focus’ 11th-best tight end (subscription required) — ahead of Thomas — and his versatility will make him valuable in Gary Kubiak‘s run-heavy approach.

The Broncos’ top three tight ends — Green, Thomas and Jacob Tamme — are each free agents.

Extra Points: Titans, Jags, Graham, Broncos

July 5th, 2014 at 4:57pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Titans have a number of veterans that are coming to the end of their contracts after 2014, and Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean gives his opinion of who the Titans should work to extend and who they should wait until after next season to decide on. Wyatt wants the team to extend Jurrell Casey and Brett Kern sooner rather than later, but asks the team to show patience with some of their other veteran players.

Here are a few other stories from around the NFL:

  • The Jaguars‘ pass rush is set to be much improved in 2014, and Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com is absolutely buying into they hype. His reasoning for believing in this unit is simple. The pass rush can’t get any worse, and the key additions should be able to make a difference immediately. Although Dekoda Watson only had three sacks in 60 games for the Buccaneers, the Jaguars believe he has unique pass-rushing skills, and Chris Clemons will be able to provide some pressure as well. While Red Bryant is not known as a sack artist, his contributions in the running game will put the team in better shape on passing downs, another area where they struggled recently.
  • While there has not been a lot of positivity surrounding Saints‘ tight end Jimmy Graham since losing his grievance regarding his franchise tag, Drew Brees hasn’t forgotten Graham’s value to the league, writes Julie Boudwin of NOLA.com.“Jimmy Graham has revolutionized the position,” said Brees. “He’s a guy who is so talented at so many things you know and obviously he’s a big part of our offense and I hope that they’re able to reach a long-term agreement here sooner than later. At the end of the day, this is part of the process and I think we all understand that.”
  • The Broncos had the best offense in the NFL by a wide margin in 2013, and the only pieces not returning this season are receiver Eric Decker who signed with the Jets, and tailback Knowshon Moreno who is now with the Dolphins. Even still, Sayre Bedinger of PredominantlyOrange.com has highlighted five dark horse candidates to impact the offense in 2014. His top five are tight ends Virgil Green and Gerell Robinson, rookie wideout Cody Latimer, and running backs Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson.