PDA

View Full Version : Marshall's future tied to tender



Lonestar
02-28-2010, 04:50 PM
Marshall's future tied to tender
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
POSTED: 02/28/2010 01:00:00 AM MST

INDIANAPOLIS — Rhetoric says Brandon Marshall will stay.

All other signs point to the Pro Bowl wide receiver leaving Denver.

The Broncos' intentions should be clear by the restricted free-agent tender deadline of 2 p.m. Thursday.

How serious the Broncos are about trading Marshall and tight end Tony Scheffler will probably be divulged in the type of tender they present. The Broncos must first tender Marshall and Scheffler before they can trade them.

If, for instance, they slap the highest tender of a first- and third-round draft pick compensation on Marshall, the Broncos would be sending the message they would not trade their mega-talented, oft-troubled star unless they get a deal no one could refuse.

But if they use the second-level tender of first-round draft pick compensation, the message to other NFL teams may be: Come get him.

"I think any time you're dealing with players and contracts, you weigh a lot of things," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said Saturday during his second annual NFL scouting combine news conference. "I've said before and I'll say it again: I'm really fond of him. He's a good person and he certainly played a huge role on our team. There's a lot of things that go into that, and we're certainly not at any point where we've made a decision."

The Broncos are expected to submit no more than a second-round tender on Scheffler. He leads NFL tight ends with 13.7 yards per catch since joining the league in 2006. But, like Marshall, he was benched for last season's final game because of behavioral issues.

The Broncos have four more restricted free agents: outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil, quarterback Kyle Orton, right guard Chris Kuper and defensive end Le Kevin Smith.

Dumervil, Orton and Kuper are expected to get the highest or next-highest tenders. The Broncos have no intention of losing them. It's unclear whether the Broncos will tender Smith, a veteran backup.

The Broncos also have a slew of unrestricted free agents, including defensive end Vonnie Holliday, guards Ben Hamilton and Russ Hochstein, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, cornerback Ty Law and punter Mitch Berger.

None will be signed before the free-agent trading market opens at 10 p.m. Friday.

"We've talked to all their agents here to see where they are with the process," Broncos general manager Brian Xanders said. "We'll see how everybody fits back into our system with the budget process and the overall plan."

Other topics McDaniels discussed during his 19-minute news conference Saturday:

• Orton. For his second season, McDaniels believes Orton will be able to perform with greater spontaneity.

"His ability to grow in our offense, to understand the offense, to know the nuances of it and have that entire freedom to do whatever he wants with that offense," McDaniels said. "That's our hope and desire, that our quarterback does whatever's best on that play — he just does it on his own."

• Although team owner Pat Bowlen said Feb. 6 the Broncos hoped to select a quarterback in the April 22-24 draft, that does not mean the Broncos have given up on Tom Brandstater, a sixth-round pick last year who didn't take a snap during his rookie season.

"We have high hopes for Tom," McDaniels said. "The goal is never to take a player and put him as the third-string quarterback and then leave him there. We want him to ascend."

• Following his news conference, McDaniels said he still had plans for Peyton Hillis, the Denver running back with cult-like popularity.

"There's a few players that the productivity they had the year before, they didn't match it again last year," McDaniels said. "We're not happy about that either. Eddie Royal is in the same boat. We want those players to continue to work and get better at what they do. And then we need to try to find a way to integrate them in. Because they are skillful players, and we need to try and meet in the middle on that and create a role and find some things we can do more often."




Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_14485532#ixzz0grygUYDL

Ravage!!!
02-28-2010, 07:01 PM
This year.