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TXBRONC
10-29-2009, 10:24 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13664610

Broncos' ascent even more stunning because of "dead money" burden
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Posted: 10/29/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Updated: 10/29/2009 01:17:30 AM MDT

Not even federal prison in Yazoo City, Miss., can shackle Travis Henry from becoming part of the NFL's feel-good story that is the 2009 Broncos.

Henry has long been removed from the Broncos' roster, but he still is a strong presence on their books. The former running back and current convicted drug dealer counts $3.6 million against the team's $128 million salary cap budget this year.

"He's on somebody else's roster right now," cornerback Champ Bailey said with a chuckle. "I learn something about the salary cap every year. I can understand it counting maybe for the following year, but this far down the road? The system is crazy."

Imagine, Josh McDaniels' first day on the job as Broncos coach and finding out 3 percent of his salary cap payroll would be allocated to a guy wearing a jumpsuit in Yazoo.

The absurdity doesn't end with Henry, who will celebrate his 31st birthday today as an inmate.

In listing the most stunning aspects about the 6-0 record the Broncos will take into their game Sunday at Baltimore, the efficient play of quarterback Kyle Orton, dramatic defensive transformation and attitude U-turn of receiver Brandon Marshall are often cited.

Nothing may be more amazing than this: The Broncos lead the NFL with $29.6 million in "dead money."

Dead money does not necessarily mean a team continues to pay cold, hard cash to players it no longer employs. The Broncos have long stopped writing enormous checks to Henry.

But oftentimes, prorated bonuses that become part of the NFL's salary cap formula serve as a reminder of costly past mistakes.

Most of the Broncos' dead money is allocated to players who essentially are dead to the NFL — 11 of the 16 most expensive players on their "dead money" payroll are no longer in the league.

And some people claim McDaniels inherited more talent than did the first-year coaches in Kansas City, Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland and Tampa Bay?

"There's nothing you can do about those situations," McDaniels said. "You understand what you're dealing with, and you move on. We never one time thought of it as a limitation in terms of putting together the most competitive team we could possibly have."

All that dead money conversely means no team has done more with less than the Broncos. Essentially, the Broncos built their undefeated 61-man roster (including the eight-man practice squad) on $92.4 million in salary cap dollars.

Not bad, considering some teams had roughly the full $128 million salary cap at their disposal.

"Put it this way: If they were 1-5 or 0-6 instead of 6-0," said one NFL agent, "they would be using all that dead money as a valid excuse."

Teams with the next four highest amounts of dead money — Oakland, St. Louis, Detroit and Kansas City — are a combined 4-23.

The two teams with the least amount of dead money — Minnesota and Green Bay — are a combined 10-3.

So how did the Broncos become such a stirring exception?

"It tells you they have a lot of quality players on rookie contracts," former NFL general manager Charley Casserly said.

"And they picked up some veterans in the offseason for not high-dollar amounts."

Within the first five days of free agency — as the Jay Cutler saga exploded to cast an ominous cloud over the Broncos' 2009 expectations, as the New York Giants gave a $42 million contract to Chris Canty, as the Washington Redskins gave $41 million guaranteed to Albert Haynesworth — McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders signed 12 free-agent players for a combined $36.62 million in guaranteed money.

All but two of those players — backup quarterback Chris Simms and running back J.J. Arrington, who was signed to a conditional contract based on a physical he eventually did not pass — have made a significant on-field impact this season.

Among the Broncos' initial free-agent group, Casserly said the Broncos found their greatest value in defensive backs Andre Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill.

Those three players in the secondary replaced Dre Bly, Marquand Manuel and Marlon McCree.

Not only did the Broncos considerably upgrade those three positions in terms of performance, but the $7.55 million in combined cap salaries of Goodman, Dawkins and Hill is 20 percent less than Bly's $9.45 million cap figure alone.

"It's easy to sit here and say now I understood what they were doing, but I think we did understand what they were doing," Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "A lot of people in football did. Obviously the quarterback thing, they made a decision there and Josh knows what kind of situation he wanted to have there, and he knew exactly what he was looking for and got that done.

"And then the defensive side is what's really impressive. They went out and brought in a bunch of guys that, for whatever reason, they were available. I think they really selected carefully for the specific things they could do, and they've done such a great job of molding them together."

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com

T.K.O.
10-30-2009, 10:24 AM
goodman ,hill AND DAWKINS ? for the price of a bly.........SOLD !
nice work F.O. thats pretty amazing:salute:

camdisco24
10-30-2009, 10:43 AM
Wow, very interesting article!
I didn't realize we had that much dead money!

Thanks for the post.

Cugel
10-30-2009, 11:11 AM
The question I want to know is: How MUCH dead cap space will they have after this season?

There's the un-capped year next year because the CBA expired, but THEN what? I would assume that Bly would be off the books, but I thought that the cap-hit was either taken in ONE season, or pro-rated over two.

And Travis Henry was cut after the 2008 off-season.




On February 21, 2008, Henry restructured his contract with the Broncos prior to his scheduled $6 million bonus to stay with the team. Henry had previously stated, "I want to make it right to the Broncos, the fans and myself," he said. "I want to be a Bronco and make it all right. I don't want to be anywhere else. I owe those people something for all that happened last year. I want to clear my name there. I'm so hungry to do right there."

On June 2, 2008, Henry was released from the Denver Broncos just one year into his five year $22.5 million deal. "We did not feel his commitment to the Broncos was enough to warrant a spot on this football team," said head coach Mike Shanahan in a prepared statement. “He’s just too inconsistent as a person. I’m not going to get into details what he did do or didn’t do. If you don’t do the little things, obviously you can’t count on somebody. So that’s why he’s released.” Henry at the time was reported to be out of the country and had not yet participated in any Broncos off-season workouts.

That was before his positive weed test that led to his suspension, and then being arrested.


On September 30, 2008, Henry was arrested by the DEA after allegedly being involved in a multi-kilogram cocaine transaction that occurred in Centennial, Colorado. Henry, portrayed by court documents "as the ruthless 'money guy' in a cocaine trafficking ring", faces 10 years to life on federal drug trafficking charges. On April 2, 2009, Henry and prosecutors reached a plea agreement.

Stemming from his October 2008 arrest on two counts of cocaine distribution, Henry will serve ten years to life in prison. He accepted a plea deal on Tuesday, April 14, 2009, to the charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Aside from prison time, Henry will have to pay around $4 million in fines.

On July 15, 2009, Henry was sentenced to three years in federal prison for financing a cocaine trafficking operation.


What a GREAT free-agent pickup he was! :rolleyes: That guy was dumber than a bag of rocks.

Because he was a June cut, the cap hit was divided between this year and the next.

I think that Dre Bly's entire cap hit was taken on THIS year's cap because he was released in February, rather than designated as a June cut.

That would indicate that that the Broncos would be pretty clear of dead cap space entering into 2010. Unfortunately, that won't matter at all because there will be NO cap.

Probably there will be a lockout and labor dispute in 2011 as the owners try and reduce the amount of player salaries to grab more of the profits for themselves. So, ultimately the good move by the Broncos in clearing all that dead-wood in one season may not be rewarded. :sad:

Still hopefully the labor dispute will be resolved in 2011 without cancelling the season, and in that case there probably WILL be a cap and in that case, Denver will be more likely to be under it.

Dreadnought
10-30-2009, 11:22 AM
Any idead how much dead money is tied up with Dewayne Robertson? I suspect thats a good sized chunk

NightTrainLayne
10-30-2009, 11:28 AM
Any idead how much dead money is tied up with Dewayne Robertson? I suspect thats a good sized chunk

Apparently not. Two images from the article:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x204/layneconaway/DeadMoney.jpg



http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x204/layneconaway/DeadMoney2.jpg

SOCALORADO.
10-30-2009, 11:28 AM
goodman ,hill AND DAWKINS ? for the price of a bly.........SOLD !
nice work F.O. thats pretty amazing:salute:

Yeah, nice job by MCD.
It also shows just how bad some of shannys mistakes were.
Just throwing away $$$$$ on clowns.

SOCALORADO.
10-30-2009, 11:30 AM
Apparently not. Two images from the article:

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x204/layneconaway/DeadMoney.jpg



http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x204/layneconaway/DeadMoney2.jpg

Look at all the players NOT on an active roster!
Again, shanny was just NOT running a tight ship....
EDIT: i cannot believe Manuel is on an active roster.
Man, that guy blows.

Cugel
10-30-2009, 11:40 AM
Any idead how much dead money is tied up with Dewayne Robertson? I suspect thats a good sized chunk

Robertson was here on a 1 year contract because of his knees and they didn't re-sign him, so NO cap hit for 2009. The gamble Robertson took was that if he played well the Broncos would have to pay him something like $30 million with at least $18 million guaranteed to keep him or else he'd become an un-restricted FA.

The downside risk was that if his knees gave out they'd cut him and he'd get nothing. Well, it didn't work out and he wasn't picked up by any team. So, basically he's retired.

He had real talent, but it's hard to play football in the NFL with a "bone-on-bone" condition in both knees.

Just thinking about that hurts. :shocked:

Cugel
10-30-2009, 11:42 AM
Look at all the players NOT on an active roster!
Again, shanny was just NOT running a tight ship....
EDIT: i cannot believe Manuel is on an active roster.
Man, that guy blows.

Marlon McCree isn't on that list. I guess he didn't cost that much. He was even worse if that's possible. :coffee:

Cugel
10-30-2009, 11:47 AM
BTW: If Matt Cassel continues to blow chunks in KC and they have to cut him that's going to be an even BIGGER cap blood-bath for the hapless Chiefs.

That $14 million a season is not looking like a great investment right now. What amazing luck McDaniels had that his IDIOT scheme to trade for Cassel fell through! We'd be stuck with that useless chode and his six-year, $63 million contract including $28 million guaranteed and $40.5 million in the first three seasons! :eek:


Matt Cassel completed just 10-of-25 passes for 97 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions against the Chargers in Week 7. He added six scrambles for 24 yards.

Cassel was sacked four more times, but he was off target even when he did have time to throw. While the plucky effort is there, the results are not. His completion percentage is now under 55, and his yards per attempt is under 5.5. He has a much-welcomed bye next week, followed by the Jags in Week 9.

Pioli's move to pay Cassel that kind of money looks like a VERY Bad career decision.

NightTrainLayne
10-30-2009, 11:50 AM
BTW: If Matt Cassel continues to blow chunks in KC and they have to cut him that's going to be an even BIGGER cap blood-bath for the hapless Chiefs.

That $14 million a season is not looking like a great investment right now. What amazing luck McDaniels had that his IDIOT scheme to trade for Cassel fell through! We'd be stuck with that useless chode and his six-year, $63 million contract including $28 million guaranteed and $40.5 million in the first three seasons! :eek:


Pioli's move to pay Cassel that kind of money looks like a VERY Bad career decision.

Sounds like a similar review as to what Orton could do.

T.K.O.
10-30-2009, 12:19 PM
Sounds like a similar review as to what Orton could do.

:confused:....uhhh how's that ?
i dont think cassell would have struggled as much here as he has in kc.
he already knew the system and proved he could run it last year that being said i also agree that he was WAAAAAAAAAY over paid.
orton has'nt "blown any chunks" that i know of (unless it was from partying down after one of his 6 wins thus far.;)

NightTrainLayne
10-30-2009, 12:49 PM
:confused:....uhhh how's that ?
i dont think cassell would have struggled as much here as he has in kc.
he already knew the system and proved he could run it last year that being said i also agree that he was WAAAAAAAAAY over paid.
orton has'nt "blown any chunks" that i know of (unless it was from partying down after one of his 6 wins thus far.;)

Yeah. . .I think we're saying the same thing.

Before Orton played a down we heard how terrible he was, and what a noodle arm he had, and made bad decisions. .. yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then he plays for McD and looks pretty damn good.

Now Cassel is playing in a new system without McD and he looks like Orton was supposed to look like.

Of course, Cassel also is missing anything resembling an Offensive Line, and a receiving corps.

Brand
10-30-2009, 01:15 PM
I wonder what he might have done if he had not gotten the broken finger. I speculate on that becasue I think it took Orton a couple of games to get used to having a decent Oline, and to learn to trust the pass blocking scheme. If he's nursing a finger injury and wearing a glove, some of his attention was on just making a decent pass, not on understanding how the blocking and the total play was working.

Given that early injury, the wins seem even more remarkable, and I think we saw in San Diego his true level of improvement to date because the finger was "unwrapped", so to speak.....

SOCALORADO.
10-30-2009, 02:13 PM
Yeah. . .I think we're saying the same thing.

Before Orton played a down we heard how terrible he was, and what a noodle arm he had, and made bad decisions. .. yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then he plays for McD and looks pretty damn good.

Now Cassel is playing in a new system without McD and he looks like Orton was supposed to look like.

Of course, Cassel also is missing anything resembling an Offensive Line, and a receiving corps.

This is why Cassel is struggling. Hes getting NO protection whatsoever. He actually is making the best of a absolutely horrific situation.
He has 1, yeah 1, target in Dwayne Bowe. Thats about it.

LRtagger
10-30-2009, 02:29 PM
Just goes to show how inept our previous FO was. A majority of fans and analysts don't factor in these types of things when judging a franchise. I can hardly wait to see what kind of team this FO can put together with money to spend.

The Dre Bly vs. the 09 secondary numbers are just astonishing.