Hours after news broke that the team signed starting outside linebacker (and 2009 team captain) Mario Haggan to a two-year contract extension, the Denver Broncos are reportedly in talks with wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the very same topic.

Hallelujah? Hallelujah.

Marshall, one of the league’s most productive receivers over the past two seasons, has been unhappy with his contract for some time. The team has been reluctant to sign the fourth-year player after multiple off-field incidents led to a one-game suspension in 2008. Marshall’s hip injury, which required surgery in the offseason, couldn’t have helped, either. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Kyle Orton, seen here chatting with Josh McDaniels, is wearing a protective glove over his right hand during practice. (John Leyba/Denver Post)

Yesterday, Kyle Orton returned to the practice field for the first time since suffering a finger dislocation on August 30th. Today, the Denver Broncos quarterback said he is doing everything he can to play in the team’s season opener against the Bengals in Cincinnati.

“I’m preparing that I’m going to play. No question about it,” Orton said in a press conference before practice Wednesday. “(I’m trying) to take as many reps as I can this week in practice to get ready, and be ready to go on Sunday.”

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The Denver Broncos have named seven players as their 2009 team captains. Per Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette, the captains are (drum roll please)…

Tada! Oh, that doesn’t help? Here you go:

Six players will wear the team captain’s patch this season. Woodyard is likely S/T captain in name only, but still, it’s an honor for the second year undrafted player. Haggan was awarded a contract extension Tuesday.

Denver Broncos starting outside linebacker Mario Haggan has been given a contract extension, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.  Haggan has been starting at left outside linebacker (SAM) since about a week into training camp, when he earned the job over Darrell Reid.

Schefter indicates it is a two-year extension worth $3.5 million that includes $1.25 in guarantees.

Haggan was one of the few holdovers from the Shanahan/Slowik defense of 2008, playing as a backup and on special teams.  In part-time work this preseason, Haggan started all four games and tallied six tackles.

• It’s Game Week!  That means Wednesday pressers, with Kyle Orton, Brian Dawkins and Josh McDaniels up to the podium today.  Frank Schwab of the CSG is providing real-time updates on today’s presser.  The official site took the never-worked “live video” link down.  Schwab is definitely worth a follow.  [Twitter]
• He posts on Kyle Orton‘s comments.  [Colorado Springs Gazette]
• Will you be able to watch the game this Sunday?  Find out here.  [the506.com]
• Broncos extend OLB Mario Haggan with a two-year deal.  [Adam Schefter]

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Post-practice coachspeek from Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Enjoy!

HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

On RB Knowshon Moreno’s progress

“He is getting better every day, doing everything he can do to be ready to go on Sunday. He was in there today and worked in and out of the drills today and some of the team periods, too. He is not totally there yet, but he is getting better every day. Hopefully, we will have him ready to go on Sunday.” Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Knowshon Moreno says he will be ready to play Sunday. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos have yet to line up with all of their offensive playmakers in place in 2009.

Better late than never.

Early indications are that QB Kyle Orton, RB Knowshon Moreno and WR Brandon Marshall are on the fast track to seeing the field Sunday for the team’s season opener in Cincinnati.  It’s a sunny prognosis considering all three entered the week with questions regarding their availability hanging overhead like a dark cloud.

KYLE ORTON
Orton was seen throwing and handing off the football today, wearing a glove over his right hand (and injured index finger). The media were only able to view a limited portion of practice, so we’ll forgive them for not providing a detailed scouting report, but the fact that Orton is participating is encouraging.

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• “When all the facts come out, people will find out Richard (Quinn)‘s done nothing wrong…. Richard did everything he was taught to do to defuse an otherwise irrational person and he’s the person sitting in jail.” [Denver Post]
• Turning on the way-back machine (not really) to May 2009.  Quinn talks about being drafted.  [Colorado Springs Gazette]
• I’d rather Quinn and Marshall have something else in common, like, say, big play abilities.  [The Latest Word]
• It takes more than “arm strength” and “confidence” to quarterback.  What Kizla fails to recognize in this “start Simms over Orton” piece is that Simms just throws a lot of wild passes. [DPO]

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McDaniels is regarded as the next greatest thing in the NFL, but can he live up to the hype? (Reuters/Nathan W. Armes)

When in doubt regarding the purchase of a supposedly authentic piece of art, one is forced to ask questions regarding the piece’s provenance… Who has owned the piece before, where did it come from, can we trace it all the way back to the originator? Is there a piece missing, is it a sham? An authentic? Is the former owner reputable, is the current owner reputable? This exploration is called the ‘provenance’ of a piece.

CUT TO:

The National Football League, modern era– only winning is tolerated, and football is perennially at the top of the ratings game. Is there anywhere else that these corporations in the US and overseas are willing to pay two to four-million dollars for thirty seconds of commercial time? Not specifically, no. So where do we get off as fans accepting anything less? In Denver specifically, Mike Shanahan’s time had passed, so here’s what the Denver Broncos’ Pat Bowlen did, he brought in the new Shanahan. This new guy? Yeah, his job is to win now, the quarterback under the Shanahan regime wasn’t as concerned with winning as he was about an offense’s reputation. So the regime in Denver made an example of him and gave a giant Mile High Salute on his way out.

So, we’re left with tens of thousands of Bronco fans wandering the earth, begging, nay- wishing they still had that orange tinted blindness. Those colored glasses had shattered simultaneously as that franchise quarterback was traded for two firsts, a third and a no-name former fourth rounder from Purdue.

I’d penned then and I let everyone know that I’d gotten my lasik earlier this off-season. I am high as ever and I’m not planning on coming down. When current Broncos General Manager Brian Xanders and Shanahan’s replacement Josh McDaniels gave up the Bronc’s first round in 2010 for Alphonso Smith in the second round, they were making the boldest of statements, ‘It’s now or never Denver town…’ Three months later Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King would choose the Chicago Bears (whose pick Denver had retained in 2010 and had traded Cutler to) to go to the Super Bowl. Yet, in my gut I have a feeling after this season the price of McDaniels’ rookie card isn’t coming down.

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Denver NBC news station 9News is reporting that Broncos rookie tight end Richard Quinn was arrested on harassment charges related to domestic violence/obstruction of phone services Monday afternoon.

As Lindsay Jones of the Denver Post points out, Quinn is being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in court 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

According to the report, Quinn shook his girlfriend to the ground and prevented her from calling police. Quinn states he shook her after she began hitting him in the face, but he police report indicates that Quinn had no sign of injuries.

UPDATE: Quinn’s agent made a statement strongly defending his client. Yesterday, we urged everyone to exercise patience before crucifying a rival; today, let’s do the same with one of our own.

The Broncos traded back into the second round of this year’s draft to select Quinn, a controversial move considering that many independent draft rankings had projected the North Carolina product to be drafted much later (if at all). Today’s events are sure to only add to that controversy.