Prater kicked four game-winning field goals for the Broncos in 2011. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater is not participating in the team’s voluntary offseason workouts, Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports.

Prater, who was designated with the Broncos’ franchise tag, has yet to sign his one-year, $2.5 million tender. The Broncos offered Prater a five-year deal before the free agency period began, Klis reports, but the dollar amounts were “well short” of what Prater and his agent were expecting.

Prater and his agent say money isn’t a factor. “There’s no message, it’s voluntary,” Prater’s agent said.

Money isn’t really the factor, it’s just that working out at Dove Valley makes no sense for Prater. Since he’s not under contract, he’d need to sign a waiver to work out at Broncos facilities at all. Franchise players rarely do this, so this really comes as no surprise, and we expect he’ll show up once he signs his franchise tender.

Now if he misses mandatory OTA’s next month or training camp, THAT will be cause for concern.

Running back Ronnie Hillman and the rest of his drafted rookie teammates remain unsigned. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos‘ 2012 Rookie Mini Camp has come and gone and oddly, not one of the team’s seven drafted rookies have signed with the team.  Some teams have already signed a handful of their drafted rookies, and the Green Bay Packers (along with six other teams) have signed their entire draft class.

With $22.11 million available to spend, the Broncos have no reason to delay signing rookies.  Denver recently fired General Manager Brian Xanders, promoted scout Matt Russell to Director of College Scouting and parted ways with longtime cap manager Mike Bluem (replacing him with Mike Sullivan, who will now help negotiate player contracts).

With Bluem, the Broncos are presumably aiming to ‘get tougher‘ in contract negotiations — which could be slowing down the process of signing rookies.  The team has already signed thirteen undrafted rookies and it has only been a few weeks since the draft, so while it appears that the team has been dragging their feet, contract negotiations and signings should be coming soon.   Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos cornerback Omar Bolden at rookie mini-camp. (Andrew Mason/MaxDenver.com)

The biggest development to come out of Denver Broncos rookie mini-camp was simply the fact that fourth round pick CB Omar Bolden made it through it, without a knee brace and without incident.

It was the first series of real, team football practices Bolden has completed since 2010.

“I got hurt in the spring of 2011,” Bolden reminded reporters, “so this is all exciting for me. I really love this game. Just to have the opportunity to be out here and play in the NFL and for the Broncos, it’s an amazing opportunity.”

The Broncos and Bolden have the luxury of taking it easy — they added veteran starting cornerbacks Tracy Porter and Drayton Florence through free agency — but that doesn’t mean that’s what Bolden will do. A team captain who went to every ASU practice and every team meeting while injured in 2011, it’s not in Bolden’s nature to sit still. He ran a 4.51 40-time at his pro day less than a month after declaring his knee 100% healthy. He completed an impressive 24 reps of the 225-lbs. bench press at the combine — tops at his position.

This rookie will work his tail off.

“He definitely looked like a first-round type of talent in our mini-camp,” head coach John Fox told 850 KOA AM radio Monday. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more Broncos updates throughout the day.

Denver Broncos News

Nunnely Retires | DenverBroncos.com
Defensive Line Coach Wayne Nunnely, after 36 years coaching football, is retiring.

Broncos’ Wayne Nunnely, longtime assistant coach, retires from NFL | Denver Post
Wayne Nunnely was at a point in life where he had to choose. Job or family? Nunnely picked family.
Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Lots of tumult on the D-line. Warren balking at a re-worked contract, Nunnely retiring, & new coach helming a position on D for the 1st time

— MaxBroncos (@MaxBroncos) May 14, 2012

Far be it for us to expand on the excellent Andrew Mason, but he was limited to 140 characters there. Let us also consider the lack of depth at defensive tackle in general (especially if Warren were to be released), relying on a top draft pick to make an immediate impact (never a sure thing on the defensive line), and how the Broncos’ top three DT contributors from a year ago are not on the roster (Brodrick Bunkley, Ryan McBean, and Marcus Thomas).

The Broncos know the defensive tackle position IMPROVED last season, right?

Denver Broncos defensive linemen receive instruction from coach Wayne Nunnely during training camp in 2010. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Denver Broncos defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely has retired after 36 years coaching football. Defensive linemen Elvis Dumervil, Robert Ayers, and Kevin Vickerson, and Mitch Unrein released the following statements on Nunnely.

Elvis Dumervil —

“He’s a great man and a great mentor off the field as well. He helped me become a mature person off the field. He’s a great technician coach. He was always fiery and he always had it in gameday and practice—he always came with it every day to work. Those were things I learned from him. No matter how you feel, you have to come to work every day, day in and day out. It’s all about consistency and he showed a good example and was a role model for our defensive linemen.”

Robert Ayers — Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely during training camp at Dove Valley. (Joe Amon/The Denver Post)

After 36 years coaching football, 17 years in the pros, and three years with the Denver Broncos, defensive line coach Wayne Nunnely is retiring.

“It has been an absolute dream come true for me to coach for 36 years,” Nunnely said in a statement. “I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been given to have a positive impact on others through the game of football. More than anything, I am proud of the accomplishments of the teams and players I have been so privileged to work with over the years.”

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Peyton Manning throws a pass as quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts in 2010. (REUTERS/Brent Smith)

This is a guest post edited for BT.

It’s every NFL coach’s dream to get a quarterback that helps turn good wide receivers into great wide receivers, as that one key player can be the difference between a coach spending a long tenure on the sidelines or watching the games on Direct TV each Sunday. Take New England quarterback Tom Brady, for example, who has made Wes Welker and Deon Branch, two wide receivers who had little to no hype surrounding them, successful in the NFL. Peyton Manning is another example of a quarterback who is capable of transforming his wide receivers; his history with the Indianapolis Colts speaks for itself in that regard.

There’s no question that Manning has had some good players to lob balls to during his Super Bowl-winning tenure with the Colts, like Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, but if you really want a good barometer of just how good of a player Peyton Manning is, all you need to do is flashback to the 2010 NFL season.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

 Follow me on Twitter for more Broncos updates throughout the day.

Top Stories

Rookie Minicamp: Fox | DenverBroncos.com (Video)
Head Coach John Fox talks about wrapping up this weekend’s rookie minicamp.

While the world changes around him, Brady remains a constant | Peter King
Matt Light retired the other day. Peyton Manning plays for Denver now. This means that Tom Brady is the lone member of an exclusive club.
Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos defensive tackle Ty Warren looks on during the team's practice at the Broncos headquarters in Englewood, Colo., on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011. (Denver Post/David Zalubowski)

The Denver Broncos and presumed starting defensive tackle Ty Warren aren’t seeing eye-to-eye.

Warren signed a two-year deal with the Broncos as a free agent in 2011 after missing 2010 with a hip injury. A torn triceps in training camp left the Broncos without Warren in 2011. He’s the presumed starting nose tackle heading into 2012, but relying on a defensive lineman on the wrong side of 30 who hasn’t played a snap in two years is like putting all your money on a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. The Broncos would like to halve that risk.

So, the Broncos approached Warren about reducing his pay from the $4 million owed him in 2012 to less than $2 million, Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports.

According to Klis, Warren balked at the idea and hasn’t been attending voluntary offseason workouts.

But here’s the catch: they approached DT Kevin Vickerson with a similar request, asking him to restructure his contract from $2.25 million to $1.2 million. Vickerson, not wanting to be released, accepted.

So now, the Broncos have a choice: honor Warren’s free agent contract, or play hard ball and cut the overpriced veteran. The former would be a slap in Vickerson’s face. The latter would seriously decimate their depth at defensive tackle.

All the Broncos wanted from Warren when they signed him in 2011 was a veteran defensive tackle who would hold his ground. Now they need him to budge. Hopefully some middle ground between the Broncos and Warren can be found.