Broncos and Darian Stewart agree to four year extension

[VonDoom]

Details to come, but that is a great move:

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 10m10 minutes ago

Broncos reached agreement with S Darian Stewart on a 4-year extension, per source.

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 3m3 minutes ago

The new 4-year extension for #Broncos S Darian Stewart is worth up to $30M, source said. $28M base. $17.5M in guarantees.

[dogfish]

oh hell yea!! JFE makin' moves to keep this bad ass defense together!

:defense: :defense:

[Northman]

I like Stewart. This is awesome.

[Joel]

Great news—but kinda steep, no? This doesn't look like a placeholder until Simmons is ready (nor should it be; Stewart's better than that) so between him and Will Parks coming on strong this kind of makes me wonder if they're thinking of releasing Ward after the season. Then again, the glorified SSs we have next to Marshall evidently can't stuff the run NOR cover, so maybe they'll move Ward to ILB. :tongue:

[VonDoom]

Great news—but kinda steep, no? This doesn't look like a placeholder until Simmons is ready (nor should it be; Stewart's better than that) so between him and Will Parks coming on strong this kind of makes me wonder if they're thinking of releasing Ward after the season. Then again, the glorified SSs we have next to Marshall evidently can't stuff the run NOR cover, so maybe they'll move Ward to ILB. :tongue:

Ward is signed through 2017 - no need to decide anything yet on him

[turftoad]

Nice!!!

[Valar Morghulis]

That is some sweet news

[VonDoom]

Also, Stewart was really our biggest pending FA. Now we can see how much money we have and hit the open market. Very different from the last few years where we lost a bunch of guys

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Also, Stewart was really our biggest pending FA. Now we can see how much money we have and hit the open market. Very different from the last few years where we lost a bunch of guys

Do you know how many quality offensive linemen are free agents?

Between the offensive line and middle of the defense we have too many holes to fill through the draft.

[Joel]

Ward is signed through 2017 - no need to decide anything yet on him
Yes, but releasing him would give us $4½ M more cap space to sign a lineman next year. I suspect you're right because of the timing on both him and Simmons. For that matter, is Simmons really a SS anyway? Seems like the distinction no longer exists, but Ward's definitely a traditional SS and Stewart's a fine centerfielder (which why I'm glad we're keeping him.) It just made me wonder, because being on the books for $7-8M for Stewart and $5.75M is a lot of cap.

[Tned]

Glad to see that. He's a sure thing, the youngsters are still prospects.

[Joel]

Also, Stewart was really our biggest pending FA. Now we can see how much money we have and hit the open market. Very different from the last few years where we lost a bunch of guys
I presume YOU'RE presuming Ware retires then? If he's healthy, I'd really like Walker back, and if we don't re-sign Sly (which is how I took declining our club option for 2017) we'll need someone to replace him.

I'd also like to lock up Barrett and Fowler to more than a one-year ERFA minimum deal that'll leave us paying top dollar if they have a breakout 2017. When you see a late round guy was a true steal, LOCK HIM UP before he's got a half hour highlight reel his agent can use to leverage Von Miller money. Not an option with obvious talent like Clady, DT and Von (though if we COULD have extended them a year earlier it would've saved a lot of cap space, stress, strained relationships and franchise tags,) but UDFAs? Be preemptive when they show a whole season of solid play, because it's not going to break the bank even if they regress: That's the POINT.

[Dapper Dan]

This makes me happy.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As John Elway often says, he wants to win from now on -- and a crucial step toward that goal is keep as much of the Broncos' top-flight defense together as possible.

That includes safety Darian Stewart. After flourishing since signing a two-year contract in March 2015, he agreed to terms with the Broncos on a four-year contract extension Saturday, keeping a key piece of the "No Fly Zone" with the Broncos for the near future.

John Elway
✔
@johnelway

Darian Stewart's an integral part of our defense who brings physicality, leadership & toughness. Thrilled he'll be a Bronco for 4 more yrs!
2:58 PM - 26 Nov 2016

rest - much more - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Broncos-Darian-Stewart-agree-to-terms-on-four-year-deal/4737b572-01ce-4d64-a7f6-0fc8caa75535

[Denver Native (Carol)]

The Broncos have agreed in principle to a four-year contract extension with safety Darian Stewart, the team announced Saturday afternoon.

Stewart confirmed that the deal is worth $28 million in base salary, with $17.5 million in guarantees. NFL Network first reported the contract details.

Stewart has been a key piece of the Broncos’ top-ranked defense since signing a two-year, $4.25 million contract in 2015. Since arriving in Colorado, Stewart has started 23 of 25 games and recorded 107 tackles, four interceptions, 13 pass-breakups, one fumble and three fumble recoveries.

“I’m just happy to be here and to continue to win. I’m happy, my family is happy and we love Denver,” Stewart told The Denver Post.

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/2016/11/26/denver-broncos-darian-stewart-contract-extension/

[HORSEPOWER 56]

I love Stewart. I'm glad he's gonna be around longer. Of all the FA signings of the Elway era he was the most underrated. Dude has solidified this secondary and is a no nonsense baller. Not a lot of talk and hype, just 100% production on the field. Great job JFE!

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Yes, but releasing him would give us $4½ M more cap space to sign a lineman next year. I suspect you're right because of the timing on both him and Simmons. For that matter, is Simmons really a SS anyway? Seems like the distinction no longer exists, but Ward's definitely a traditional SS and Stewart's a fine centerfielder (which why I'm glad we're keeping him.) It just made me wonder, because being on the books for $7-8M for Stewart and $5.75M is a lot of cap.

You can't be serious about releasing Ward just to save 4 1/2 million in Space. He is worth much more than that and we have plenty of Space next year to sign linemen

[capt. Jack]

This is great news!

(I did the same thing on my Madden game last week! 4 years 28 mill.)

:)

[MOtorboat]

Yes, but releasing him would give us $4½ M more cap space to sign a lineman next year. I suspect you're right because of the timing on both him and Simmons. For that matter, is Simmons really a SS anyway? Seems like the distinction no longer exists, but Ward's definitely a traditional SS and Stewart's a fine centerfielder (which why I'm glad we're keeping him.) It just made me wonder, because being on the books for $7-8M for Stewart and $5.75M is a lot of cap.

Neither safety is going to stop Denver from signing players at other positions Chicken Little.

[HORSEPOWER 56]

I presume YOU'RE presuming Ware retires then? If he's healthy, I'd really like Walker back, and if we don't re-sign Sly (which is how I took declining our club option for 2017) we'll need someone to replace him.

I'd also like to lock up Barrett and Fowler to more than a one-year ERFA minimum deal that'll leave us paying top dollar if they have a breakout 2017. When you see a late round guy was a true steal, LOCK HIM UP before he's got a half hour highlight reel his agent can use to leverage Von Miller money. Not an option with obvious talent like Clady, DT and Von (though if we COULD have extended them a year earlier it would've saved a lot of cap space, stress, strained relationships and franchise tags,) but UDFAs? Be preemptive when they show a whole season of solid play, because it's not going to break the bank even if they regress: That's the POINT.

Shaq Barrett is a great rotational player and bringing him back would be nice. Bennie Fowler, though? Why? The reason we brought in Marlon Brown and are playing Sunshine (Taylor) more is because neither Fowler or Lattimer are getting it done. They can't even beat out Norwood for the #3 WR position. I'm done waiting for Lattimer to live up to his draft status and Fowler (who was a camp darling 2 years ago) to "break out". Neither has done pretty much anything. Those 2 can walk as far as I'm concerned.

[underrated29]

It's all coming together exactly as I have foreseen.

Next will be to sign dontario Poe and bust our wad on 2 or 3 OL. Draft a TE, MLB, DL early and our death star will be fully operational!

I'd like to see another high CB, plus a rb, OL and wr with speed

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

It's all coming together exactly as I have foreseen.

Next will be to sign dontario Poe and bust our wad on 2 or 3 OL. Draft a TE, MLB, DL early and our death star will be fully operational!

I'd like to see another high CB, plus a rb, OL and wr with speed

We should give Poe whatever he wants, even if it means passing on a top flight OT.

[VonDoom]

I've been dreaming of Poe in orange and blue

[VonDoom]

Yes, but releasing him would give us $4½ M more cap space to sign a lineman next year. I suspect you're right because of the timing on both him and Simmons. For that matter, is Simmons really a SS anyway? Seems like the distinction no longer exists, but Ward's definitely a traditional SS and Stewart's a fine centerfielder (which why I'm glad we're keeping him.) It just made me wonder, because being on the books for $7-8M for Stewart and $5.75M is a lot of cap.

Simmons is officially listed as a FS with Parks being the backup SS. Like you said, though, those distinctions probably don't matter much.

I don't see them cutting Ward - $4.5 million seems like a steal, with the rest of the secondary making big bucks now.

[VonDoom]

I presume YOU'RE presuming Ware retires then? If he's healthy, I'd really like Walker back, and if we don't re-sign Sly (which is how I took declining our club option for 2017) we'll need someone to replace him.

I'd also like to lock up Barrett and Fowler to more than a one-year ERFA minimum deal that'll leave us paying top dollar if they have a breakout 2017. When you see a late round guy was a true steal, LOCK HIM UP before he's got a half hour highlight reel his agent can use to leverage Von Miller money. Not an option with obvious talent like Clady, DT and Von (though if we COULD have extended them a year earlier it would've saved a lot of cap space, stress, strained relationships and franchise tags,) but UDFAs? Be preemptive when they show a whole season of solid play, because it's not going to break the bank even if they regress: That's the POINT.

I kind of forgot about Ware, because I've been putting him in his own category. But I do think he'll retire, though that's just a gut feeling. I too want Walker back, and I suspect that the injury will actually help us if we want to re-sign him for fairly cheap. I think not picking up Sly's option was telling and he won't be back.

[Hawgdriver]

Stewart was playing near 100% of the snaps earlier this season. Don't know the % now, but he's been present and productive. Deserves it.

[VonDoom]

Do you know how many quality offensive linemen are free agents?

Between the offensive line and middle of the defense we have too many holes to fill through the draft.

I honestly don't know who's out there as far as FA o-linemen go. My concern with the line is that it's not a quick fix, and that signing one or two guys isn't necessarily going to solve the problem, though we'll need to at least attempt it. We got two guys this year - Okung, who's been okay, and Stephenson, who's been pretty bad, so much so that he's competing for his job - so I don't know if we would do better next year. I do know that we'll have some money to play with, as OTC lists us as $38 million in cap space before the Stewart deal.

[GEM]

I've been dreaming of Poe in orange and blue

My dad asks I wanted him so bad when he was drafted!

[Lynch12]

I never thought Stewart would turn out to be such a stud when we signed him, he's definitely earned his new contract.

[Tned]

You can't be serious about releasing Ward just to save 4 1/2 million in Space. He is worth much more than that and we have plenty of Space next year to sign linemen

Yea, crazy talk.

[Traveler]

It's all coming together exactly as I have foreseen.

Next will be to sign dontario Poe and bust our wad on 2 or 3 OL. Draft a TE, MLB, DL early and our death star will be fully operational!

I'd like to see another high CB, plus a rb, OL and wr with speed
I'll be paying particular attention to Poe tonight. Seems like he could be a good fit, but there are concerns about his back. KC will have an interesting decision to make since they are projected to be about 6 million over the cap to start the 2017 offseason. Poe or Berry will get franchised.

[BORDERLINE]

First off this is great news and well deserved.

2nd , I didn't see no one mention it but he could have gotten more in FA. Feels like we got a deal. And that's a testament to the player Stew is. Money isn't everything the culture and family environment make these guys take team friendly deals. Glad to see the No Fly Zone will still be in effect for years to come.

[Valar Morghulis]

First off this is great news and well deserved. 2nd , I didn't see no one mention it but he could have gotten more in FA. Feels like we got a deal. And that's a testament to the player Stew is. Money isn't everything the culture and family environment make these guys take team friendly deals. Glad to see the No Fly Zone will still be in effect for years to come.

Agreed. The dude is a baller and I love having players who play here because they want to, not just because they are paid more to do so

[Tned]

First off this is great news and well deserved.

2nd , I didn't see no one mention it but he could have gotten more in FA. Feels like we got a deal. And that's a testament to the player Stew is. Money isn't everything the culture and family environment make these guys take team friendly deals. Glad to see the No Fly Zone will still be in effect for years to come.

Like Wolf last year, by signing them early you get the possibility of getting a discount (I haven't tracked safeties, so don't know how much of a discount it is). From the players point of view, it's a bird in hand. If there is an injury in the last 6-9 games, then their payday could go away or get much less, so by signing now, they know that money is locked, even if they might be leaving a few dollars on the table.

[Dapper Dan]

I don't think there was a discount. He's getting top 10 money. About what Kam Chancellor gets. He would never get Earl Thomas and Eric Berry money.

[Valar Morghulis]

I don't think there was a discount. He's getting top 10 money. About what Kam Chancellor gets. He would never get Earl Thomas and Eric Berry money.

I bet he would have gotten more elsewhere.

He is well worth top ten money, not sure I could name five better safeties at the minute

[Joel]

Neither safety is going to stop Denver from signing players at other positions Chicken Little.


You can't be serious about releasing Ward just to save 4 1/2 million in Space. He is worth much more than that and we have plenty of Space next year to sign linemen
Hope ya'll are right. But remember, he's scheduled to earn nearly $6M next year (the same figure that made our ONLY good interior lineman a cap casualty.) $4½M is just the cap space we'd save AFTER eating $1¼M in dead money.


Simmons is officially listed as a FS with Parks being the backup SS. Like you said, though, those distinctions probably don't matter much.

I don't see them cutting Ward - $4.5 million seems like a steal, with the rest of the secondary making big bucks now.
Maybe, but again, it's $5.75M, not $4½M: The latters just the cap savings after we eat the remaining dead money. Although one could argue dead space is already lost no matter WHAT we do, so it's just a question of whether keeping Ward on the field instead of Parks is worth another $4½M.

As far as an Early Bird Special, the time for that was LAST year; at this point Stewart knows his worth as well as we do, so negotiated accordingly.

[Joel]

Shaq Barrett is a great rotational player and bringing him back would be nice. Bennie Fowler, though? Why? The reason we brought in Marlon Brown and are playing Sunshine (Taylor) more is because neither Fowler or Lattimer are getting it done. They can't even beat out Norwood for the #3 WR position. I'm done waiting for Lattimer to live up to his draft status and Fowler (who was a camp darling 2 years ago) to "break out". Neither has done pretty much anything. Those 2 can walk as far as I'm concerned.
Fowler's gotten it done nearly every time he's gotten the BALL; he can't catch what isn't thrown. If I had to guess, I'd say he and Sunshine will both be back because they're ERFAs and Norwood's a FA. Latimer might be a cap casualty himself if he doesn't do something soon; $1M isn't a huge amount of cap money, but that's about what we'd save by releasing a former 2nd rounder who's done precious little in 3 seasons.


I kind of forgot about Ware, because I've been putting him in his own category. But I do think he'll retire, though that's just a gut feeling. I too want Walker back, and I suspect that the injury will actually help us if we want to re-sign him for fairly cheap. I think not picking up Sly's option was telling and he won't be back.
That's how I read it, yeah: If we were going to keep Sly, I'd have expected to exercise a club option that was pretty cheap for a starting NT, and use that extra year to negotiate an extension; as it stands, 2½ years starting in both a 4-3 and 3-4 on a pair of SB teams makes re-signing him for anything close to the price of the option impossible. Conversely, I agree with you Walkers injury should make him easier to re-sign IF he's fully recovered (fingers crossed.)

For what it's worth, I also expect Wares back will call it a career after missing much of the last two seasons (last four, really; it cost him about a month in 2013.) That's one of several reasons I expect Barrett back; frankly, I'd like to do a long term extension for him now rather than pay him the minimum for a single year and then let him demand a kings ransom from 32 teams in 2018.


I honestly don't know who's out there as far as FA o-linemen go. My concern with the line is that it's not a quick fix, and that signing one or two guys isn't necessarily going to solve the problem, though we'll need to at least attempt it. We got two guys this year - Okung, who's been okay, and Stephenson, who's been pretty bad, so much so that he's competing for his job - so I don't know if we would do better next year. I do know that we'll have some money to play with, as OTC lists us as $38 million in cap space before the Stewart deal.
The depressing part of how much I agree is that we've had MULTIPLE seasons to slowly rebuild the line and squandered that opportunity by trying to nickel and dime it with late picks and castoff FAs no one else wanted. People talk about Stephenson blocking Von one-on-one last year, but some of that was Alex Smiths mobility; the truth is KC only promoted Stephenson to starter because they lost not one but TWO better blockers as FAs. Okung negotiated himself a "prove it" deal that proved we should decline a club option for $12M/yr over 3 more years.

[Timmy!]

Joel= worst GM ever.

[Dapper Dan]

Joel= worst GM ever.

Nah. He's a pretty average Gay Male.

[Valar Morghulis]

Nah. He's a pretty average Gay Male.

Trust you to find a homosexual reference

[MOtorboat]

Joel= worst GM ever.

Remember when he spent months spamming the board about how bad it was Denver signed Manning because they could have had these specific four free agents instead and how they couldn't sign free agents in the future and then Denver signed T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware the next offseason?

Me too.

[Dapper Dan]

Remember when he spent months spamming the board about how bad it was Denver signed Manning because they could have had these specific four free agents instead and how they couldn't sign free agents in the future and then Denver signed T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware the next offseason?

Me too.

Ooh. I member.

[Valar Morghulis]

Ooh. I member.

You are a member

[Simple Jaded]

They should move Simmons to CB and cut Talib, amirite?

[Simple Jaded]

As for FA OL, I'd like to see Matt Kalil signed at OT, he's a solid player and a good fit at a reasonable price.

Calais Campbell should come home to finish his career.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

As for FA OL, I'd like to see Matt Kalil signed at OT, he's a solid player and a good fit at a reasonable price.

Calais Campbell should come home to finish his career.

Did he play college ball in Colorado?

[Simple Jaded]

Did he play college ball in Colorado?

Campbell played for Miami but was raised in Colorado. Huge Sharpe fan.

[GEM]

And then proceeds to have his worst game as a Broncos. Typical.

[Buff]

And then proceeds to have his worst game as a Broncos. Typical.

That collision between him and Kelce last night was legit. Dude sure can hit.

[GEM]

That collision between him and Kelce last night was legit. Dude sure can hit.

Couldn't think of it happening to a better guy, can't stand Kelce.

[Buff]

Couldn't think of it happening to a better guy, can't stand Kelce.

Kelce is a douche - I saw a tweet from Mike Evans today saying that they were going to address his shocking comments or something like that but I didn't see what he said. Did you?

[BroncoJoe]

Kelce is a douche - I saw a tweet from Mike Evans today saying that they were going to address his shocking comments or something like that but I didn't see what he said. Did you?

Not sure, but before the game whoever was interviewing him listed the best TE's in the game today, and asked how he stacked up against them. He basically said he's better.

Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it severely lacked any humility and giving credit to those who have actually proven - over several years - their greatness.

[Poet]

Kelce took my haircut.

[Simple Jaded]

Kelce took my haircut.

You should thank him.

[Poet]

You should thank him.

Well played.

[Simple Jaded]

Well played.

I want Keap's haircut, I'm seriously.