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View Full Version : Players clean up; salaries, bonuses up from last year



Lonestar
08-12-2009, 03:34 AM
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/12/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT


The players are starting to win.

They may not be moving into the ritzy, big-league baseball neighborhoods, but NFL players are starting to give owners a tussle for their money.

All the contract numbers are in and, as suspected, the Broncos paid more than they would have liked to first-round picks Knowshon Moreno and Robert Ayers.

Way more.

In 2007, the average first-round increase in guaranteed money from 2006 was 4.5 percent.

In 2008, first-rounders got a 9.8 percent average bump in guarantee compared to the previous years.

This year? Ayers' $9.7 million guarantee marked a 16 percent jump from what Joe Flacco got the previous year in the No. 18 spot. Moreno received a $13.125 million guarantee, or a 15 percent lift from what the Broncos gave Ryan Clady, their No. 12 overall pick last year.

"Sounds like he (Moreno) got a good deal," Clady said.

And to think, the Broncos did better than other teams at the negotiating table. Oakland gave a 20 percent raise to No. 7 pick Darrius Heyward-Bey and No. 17 Josh Freeman received a 16.8 percent raise from Tampa Bay.

These sizeable increases explain why the Broncos struggled to get Moreno and Ayers into training camp. Ayers missed the first 3 1/2 days of camp while Moreno was an eight-day holdout. There are still five first-round picks yet to sign.

No wonder Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is co-chairing the league's labor committee, which wants to alter the collective bargaining agreement.

Moreno's five-year contract could maximize at $23 million if he hits some difficult-to-reach incentives, but otherwise has a $16.7 million base value.

Then again, $16.7 million over five years to play NFL running back is only six months' work for Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, who is making $16.6 million this year, another $16.6 million next year, $19.1 million in 2011 and, as a farewell gift, a $4.6 million buyout bonus in 2012.

But while Helton wouldn't swap contracts with Moreno, Brandon Marshall would.

There is also a sixth-year, nonguaranteed option with Moreno's contract which would cost the Broncos $5.08 million to exercise.

Footnotes.

With Eddie Royal getting the evening session off Monday, Brandon Lloyd took his first-team receiver slot and made some impressive catches. . . . Second-round rookie Richard Quinn was the first-team tight end in place of the resting Daniel Graham. . . . Yes, the guys are getting a little testy. Running back Correll Buckhalter and nose tackle Chris Baker exchanged shoves in the evening session. The preseason game Friday against San Francisco can't come soon enough. "Like every veteran and rookie on this team, I'm ready to beat up on somebody else," Buckhalter said. . . . Running back LaMont Jordan remains out with a leg injury. . . . Moreno didn't just jump on Brandon Stokley's back to celebrate the slot receiver's touchdown catch Monday. Moreno pushed off Stokley's shoulders and leaped completely over his head. Not only that, Moreno had a few nice runs.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13041390?source=rss