The biggest news of the offseason so far occurred this morning, when running back Travis Henry agreed to restructure his deal to stay in Denver through 2008, the Denver Post reports.

Terms of the restructured deal were not disclosed. Henry was due $6 million in bonuses on February 29, leading many to speculate that he would have been cut before the bonus went through. After saying last month that he wanted to stay and “make it right” in Denver, it appears that he was good on his word.

Henry’s agent, Hadley Engelhard, said that is exactly why Henry will remain a Bronco. “Travis wants to make it right in Denver. That is the big reason why he is back. He thinks it can work there.”

Henry started the season strong, leading the league in rushing through 4 weeks, until injuries and pending suspensions collapsed his season. He finished 2nd on the team in rushing.

This team has enough holes on defense, special teams and the offensive line to have to add running back to the list. I think Henry has a lot of untapped potential in this system, and I’m really excited he’ll back for another year.

Free agency is set to begin with the new month, and the Broncos are still yet to sign their franchise leader in games played and points scored. Kicker Jason Elam is set to become an unrestricted free agent in just over a week, and the Broncos are still focusing on signing safety Hamza Abdullah to a new contract before they hammer out the details on Elam’s deal.

Jack Reale, Elam’s agent, reminds the Broncos that the kicker position is not another hole the Broncos need to fill.

“Kickers are like doctors: nobody wants them until you need one, and you then hope you have a good one – and Jason is definitely a good one.”

The quickest way to ensure that Elam stays a Bronco would be to do what they did in 2002 – designate him as the Broncos’ franchise player (otherwise known as the “franchise tag”). The Boston Globe reports that the cost of franchising a kicker would be a cool $2.15 million.

If the Broncos franchise Elam, they can still work out a long term deal; this just ensures that Elam doesn’t go elsewhere in the meantime. The deadline for designating the franchise tag is Thursday, so the Broncos will need to act swiftly to make sure their future Ring of Famer doesn’t get lost in free agency.

After months of tweaking the site redesign, tossing it out, starting it over, tossing that out, and starting over again, we’ve finally settled on a layout that fits what we want to do with our little blog. Welcome to the new, community-focused version of BroncoTalk!

About the layout

The first thing you may notice is the rotating header images, handcrafted by our own Jonathan Douglas. Each time you refresh (try it!) you’ll get a random pick of 5 banners. We plan on doing our best to keep these up to date (ahem, the Javon Walker banners may be leaving the rotation soon…).

The new site is easier on the eyes (read: less orange), but we’re still working out some kinks. For instance, our embedded poll has gone completely wacky, so we’ve taken it out until we can figure out what’s making it go Al Davis on us.

The search form is pretty handy – and for those readers in foreign countries, I’ve added translation symbols to quickly change to and from 7 languages of your choice. Most everything else is the same, albeit changed aesthetically.

The Community

The big change: only registered, logged-in users can comment on the site. Luckily we’ve made it easy for you to make sure you fall in that group.

Not a member? Click ‘Register’ in the top-left corner of the site. It only takes 2 minutes. You can then login in two ways – on the top-right login form, or in the Comments section of any post. Best of all (by popular request), logging in will now make sure you’re returned back to the page you were just viewing.

Your Opinion on the Redesign

Let me know what you think! I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on the new layout. Love it or hate it, your thoughts are the only way I’ll improve the next redesigns in the future.

• The Combine gets underway today. Jeff Legwold takes a look at what the combine means and how it affects Draft Day. [Rocky Mountain News]
• With about a week left before free agency begins, Jason Elam still isn’t signed. [Denver Post]
• A deeper look at Bob Howsam. [Mason’s Morsels]
• Another one of those mouthwatering free agent defenders went off the market. [Baltimore Sun]

Bob Howsam, one of three founders of the Denver Broncos, died earlier today in Sun City, AZ, according to his son Robert Howsam. He and his father, Lee, and brother, Earl, founded the Broncos as one of eight charter members of the American Football League in 1959.

Howsam’s family built Bears Stadium in Denver, the original field for the Class A Western League and Class AAA American Association team Denver Bears. Bears Stadium would later become Mile High Stadium.

Howsam and his family sold the struggling Broncos franchise in 1964, and Howsam went on to have a very successful career in baseball. He would later be inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame for his 11 years as General Manager for the two-time world champions.

Howsam’s son indicated that his father had been suffering from heart problems. He would have turned 90 on February 28.

R.I.P., Bob. Thanks for creating a team that has brought so much joy to so many lives, including mine.

• Howsam, Denver sports pioneer, dead at 89 [Rocky Mountain News]
  

Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, and Tony Scheffler have been practicing in their own workouts in Atlanta since mid-January. Now it appears these workouts will continue through March 24, when the Broncos’ official offseason workout program begins.

Their workouts have focused on speed, strength, and position-specific drills, taking place at Chip Smith’s Competitive Edge Sports athletic performance center in Atlanta, GA (courtesy The Sporting News). The three have also worked on their timing and chemistry for next season, running pass plays in their workouts.

In a recent interview with CBS4 Denver, Marshall talked about the workouts, being a wide receiver in the NFL, and beefing up for next season, among other things. When asked whose idea the Atlanta practices was, he said it was a collective effort, but gave Jay Cutler credit for being the leader and seeing it through.

He and the interviewer talked about Javon Walker at length, and Marshall even went as far as to say that an invitation for Javon was extended. He jokingly told Walker to get his butt over to Atlanta to join them, saying he’d get in touch with Walker again and see if he was interested.

This interview took place during Super Bowl week, and I’ve yet to hear any news of Walker in Atlanta. It seems safe to say that Walker didn’t accept the invitation, another indication that his days as a Bronco are likely numbered.

The Marshall interview is a real gem, definitely give it a spin. Can we get an Atlanta native over to Chip Smith’s on the double?!

I love the attitude, I love the work ethic, and I love the fact that these guys took it upon themselves to work together and build chemistry. These three could be a scary combination in 2008 – look out NFL.

• Cutler and Company Already Back in Action [BroncoTalk]
• No rest for Broncos trio [The Sporting News]
• CBS4 Brandon Marshall Interview [CBS4 Denver]

• The Chiefs slapped the franchise tag on DE Jared Allen yesterday, almost certainly keeping him in Kansas City another year. [Kansas City Star]
• John Clayton believes Javon Walker will be shown the door. [ESPN]
• Was Woody Paige planning on donating a few million to his crazy offseason plan? [Denver Post]
• Add WR Muhsin Muhammed to the free agent market (does this mean the Bears will try to keep Bernard Berrian…) [Rocky Mountain News]

• Andrew Mason takes a look at the defensive tackles that should be available in a few weeks. [DenverBroncos.com]
• Belichick breaks his silence, saying he never authorized the taping of Rams practices before the 2002 Super Bowl. [Rocky Mountain News]

The Denver Broncos are facing serious personnel decisions in the next two weeks, as four of their starters are anticipating large bonuses in the wake of injury. Javon Walker, Travis Henry, John Lynch and Ian Gold are each owed significant money between February 29 and March 4, the Denver Post reports.

Walker, who has stated that Denver may not be the “best fit” for him this offseason, is the most likely to be moved. The wide receiver is due $5.4 million in bonuses on March 4. Various reports indicate that Walker will be released if the Broncos cannot consummate a trade before this deadline.

Henry, whose first season with Denver was marred with injury and marijuana suspension drama, is due $6 million on February 29. He will be asked to restructure his deal. Henry’s recent statements indicate that he remains loyal to Mike Shanahan and the Denver community; his willingness to restructure his large salary will indicate the degree of this dedication.

John Lynch has been sitting on retirement for the past several weeks, with several of his teammates (including fellow Pro Bowler Champ Bailey) asking the longtime veteran to stay another season. He is due $1.12 million on March 4, possibly setting a deadline for his decision. Lynch has suggested that he would only stay if he were promised a continued large role in the team’s defense – with the team’s lack of depth at safety, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where that wouldn’t be the case.

Ian Gold had an up-and-down season, finishing on a few poor performances and ultimately on the bench due to injury. It is rumored that Gold may be on his way out. He is due $500,000 on March 3, a number the Broncos may be willing to survive compared to the other players in question.

Last year, the Broncos did a lot of cleaning house. Although each of these players have a reason to leave or be released, the Broncos may be better off keeping as many of these players as they can. I think Walker will be gone, Henry will restructure, Gold will be asked to stay on the condition that he knows he will be competing for a starting job, and Lynch’s retirement decision wouldn’t surprise me either way.

The latest twist in the tale of Rod Smith rings with heartbreaking finality. The longtime Broncos veteran, who holds every meaningful receiving record for the Broncos, was place on the Reserved/Retired list earlier today. Smith was an integral part of the Broncos’ back-to-back Super Bowl titles in 1997 and 1998, also helping the Broncos earn seven playoff berths and three AFC West titles in his career.

Smith played all 13 of his professional seasons with the Broncos after joining the team as a college free agent from Missouri Southern University on May 3, 1994, and posted 849 career receptions for 11,389 receiving yards (13.4 avg.) with 68 touchdowns in 183 games (158 starts). His career totals for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns are the most by an undrafted player in NFL history, and he ranks seventh and eighth, respectively, in career games played and started by a Bronco.

A three-time Pro Bowl selection (2000-01, ’05), Smith currently stands 12th in NFL history in career receptions, 19th in career receiving yards and tied for 31st in career receiving touchdowns. Smith, whose nine-year streak of recording at least 70 receptions from 1997-2005 ties for the second longest in league history, also established Broncos career records for 100-yard receiving games (31), 1,000-yard receiving seasons (8) and 100-catch seasons (2).

After spending his rookie season on the Broncos’ practice squad in 1994, Smith helped Denver to seven postseason berths (1996-98, 2000, 2003-05), three AFC West titles (1996, ’98, 2005) and two Super Bowl victories (XXXII in 1997 and XXXIII in ‘98). The Broncos compiled a 126-70 (.643) record in the 196 overall games (183 regular season, 13 playoff) in which Smith played for his career.

Smith set Broncos career playoff records for receptions (49), receiving yards (860) and receiving touchdowns (6) in 13 postseason appearances (12 starts). His 152 receiving yards in Super Bowl XXXIII against Atlanta (1/31/99) tie for the fifth-highest total by a player in Super Bowl history.

The wide receiver holds five of the top-10 single-season reception totals in Broncos history, including his club-record 113 catches in 2001 that made him one of seven players in league history to post consecutive 100-reception seasons. He also owns four of the top-10 single-season receiving yardage totals in franchise annals, including a club-record 1,602 yards in 2000.

Smith, who is Denver’s record holder for career combined yards (12,488), yards from scrimmage (11,737) and overall touchdowns (71), was chosen as the Broncos’ Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award nominee in 2006. A graduate of Texarkana High School in Texarkana, Ark., Smith was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.