baja
05-28-2005, 05:16 AM
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/broncos/article/0,1299,DRMN_17_3813793,00.html
For Shanahan, it's no gray area
Coach insists that experience pays off
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
May 28, 2005
The Denver Broncos still will trot out in their traditional orange and blue togs this fall. It's just that they've added more than a little gray to the color scheme.
While most teams doing business in the NFL's salary-cap era don't trust many players over 30, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has dived headlong into the pursuit of experience this off-season.
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The latest catch is wide receiver Jerry Rice, a future Hall of Famer who will enter his 21st season and turn 43 on Oct. 13. He has joined a list of six players expected to make the team's final 53-man roster who are at least 30 years old and were either acquired or re- signed by the Broncos over the past three months.
"And as far as I'm concerned, a lot of those veterans get tossed aside, and they can still play," Shanahan said. "You look at them and if you think they can contribute, you bring them in. The right guys give you some of what you need."
Still, there are those in the league, squeezed annually by the salary cap, who say don't pay age.
They say giving too many deals to too many players on the wrong side of 30 is the quickest way to salary-cap trouble because often those deals, especially the larger ones, eventually result in "dead money" charges against the cap.
Dead money is when a team is charged against the salary cap for bonus money already paid to a player when he is no longer on the roster. The Broncos, for example, will be charged $3.571 million against the salary cap this season for part of the contract they gave to defensive tackle Daryl Gardener, who was cut by the team a year ago.
Shanahan, though, believes in the power of tenure. And while the Broncos' actions of late have some league executives in other outposts shaking their heads, Shanahan is just as adamant that each of this year's crop was brought in for a reason.
"We've looked at the salary cap with these deals, and anybody that knows anything about the salary cap will know that these are different kinds of deals," Shanahan said. "We think what we've done is worth taking a chance. It depends on the veteran, but we think we have the right deals for the right kind of veterans."
Rice's one-year deal, because of cap rules instituted a few years ago to entice teams to sign or keep more veteran players, will count only $450,000 against the $85.5 million limit per team this season.
For his part, Rice is expected to be part mentor, part possession receiver along the way at a position at which the Broncos have little depth.
"I think people have been trying to retire me for about six years now, six or seven years," Rice said this week. "I think once you get into your 40s, once you get into your 30s, the tendency is to start working those older players out and bring the new crop in. I never gave into that. I kept fighting. I kept working hard. I wanted to do it my way, and I feel like I'm getting that opportunity now."
The Broncos also sent a seventh-round pick in next year's draft, as well as punter Jason Baker, to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for 32-year-old punter Todd Sauerbrun because Shanahan still is fuming about the team's field-position woes last year.
He added 32-year-old linebacker Keith Burns - now in his third stint with the Broncos - because of those special-teams troubles. And the team re-signed tight end Patrick Hape (30), defensive end Marco Coleman (35) and defensive tackle Luther Elliss (32).
Elliss, Coleman and Hape signed one-year deals, just like Rice.
"Marco Coleman was a great example of (the benefit), a guy who came in here and helped save a season for us defensively when we lost Trevor Pryce," Shanahan said. "Marco, we had to have a guy like Marco. You lose a guy like Trevor Pryce, and a guy like Marco comes in and plays tremendous for us. We were top five on defense, and a big reason is a guy like Marco Coleman.
"Again, it all depends on what veteran it is when you do this. But a guy like Marco Coleman brought a lot to the table because of his character and his work ethic, and we're hoping Jerry Rice and some of the others do the same."
Shanahan also has made it clear he believes in the fresh- start principle. He believes players such as Rice, who was released by Seattle earlier this year, or Coleman, who was released by Philadelphia after the 2003 season, or Sauerbrun, who simply had worn out his welcome in Carolina, can rebound when given another chance.
The biggest risk is injury, which caught up to Elliss last season. After looking as if he was on the brink of a big season during last year's training camp, Elliss ended up missing eight games with chest, calf and back injuries.
"But after you get cut, you sit back and you still think you can play," Coleman said. "After somebody lets you go, you hope the phone will ring to give you one more chance. As you get along, I think you appreciate those chances more and more so when you get one, you want to take advantage of it."
"I just think experience counts," Shanahan said. "We'll see if they all step up, but there are some guys, you just look at them, look at what they've done, look at the film, and you decide they're worth a chance. How could you now take a chance on a guy like Jerry Rice? I'll take my chances on a guy like Jerry Rice any time, guys who work, guys with some character."
For Shanahan, it's no gray area
Coach insists that experience pays off
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
May 28, 2005
The Denver Broncos still will trot out in their traditional orange and blue togs this fall. It's just that they've added more than a little gray to the color scheme.
While most teams doing business in the NFL's salary-cap era don't trust many players over 30, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has dived headlong into the pursuit of experience this off-season.
Advertisement
The latest catch is wide receiver Jerry Rice, a future Hall of Famer who will enter his 21st season and turn 43 on Oct. 13. He has joined a list of six players expected to make the team's final 53-man roster who are at least 30 years old and were either acquired or re- signed by the Broncos over the past three months.
"And as far as I'm concerned, a lot of those veterans get tossed aside, and they can still play," Shanahan said. "You look at them and if you think they can contribute, you bring them in. The right guys give you some of what you need."
Still, there are those in the league, squeezed annually by the salary cap, who say don't pay age.
They say giving too many deals to too many players on the wrong side of 30 is the quickest way to salary-cap trouble because often those deals, especially the larger ones, eventually result in "dead money" charges against the cap.
Dead money is when a team is charged against the salary cap for bonus money already paid to a player when he is no longer on the roster. The Broncos, for example, will be charged $3.571 million against the salary cap this season for part of the contract they gave to defensive tackle Daryl Gardener, who was cut by the team a year ago.
Shanahan, though, believes in the power of tenure. And while the Broncos' actions of late have some league executives in other outposts shaking their heads, Shanahan is just as adamant that each of this year's crop was brought in for a reason.
"We've looked at the salary cap with these deals, and anybody that knows anything about the salary cap will know that these are different kinds of deals," Shanahan said. "We think what we've done is worth taking a chance. It depends on the veteran, but we think we have the right deals for the right kind of veterans."
Rice's one-year deal, because of cap rules instituted a few years ago to entice teams to sign or keep more veteran players, will count only $450,000 against the $85.5 million limit per team this season.
For his part, Rice is expected to be part mentor, part possession receiver along the way at a position at which the Broncos have little depth.
"I think people have been trying to retire me for about six years now, six or seven years," Rice said this week. "I think once you get into your 40s, once you get into your 30s, the tendency is to start working those older players out and bring the new crop in. I never gave into that. I kept fighting. I kept working hard. I wanted to do it my way, and I feel like I'm getting that opportunity now."
The Broncos also sent a seventh-round pick in next year's draft, as well as punter Jason Baker, to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for 32-year-old punter Todd Sauerbrun because Shanahan still is fuming about the team's field-position woes last year.
He added 32-year-old linebacker Keith Burns - now in his third stint with the Broncos - because of those special-teams troubles. And the team re-signed tight end Patrick Hape (30), defensive end Marco Coleman (35) and defensive tackle Luther Elliss (32).
Elliss, Coleman and Hape signed one-year deals, just like Rice.
"Marco Coleman was a great example of (the benefit), a guy who came in here and helped save a season for us defensively when we lost Trevor Pryce," Shanahan said. "Marco, we had to have a guy like Marco. You lose a guy like Trevor Pryce, and a guy like Marco comes in and plays tremendous for us. We were top five on defense, and a big reason is a guy like Marco Coleman.
"Again, it all depends on what veteran it is when you do this. But a guy like Marco Coleman brought a lot to the table because of his character and his work ethic, and we're hoping Jerry Rice and some of the others do the same."
Shanahan also has made it clear he believes in the fresh- start principle. He believes players such as Rice, who was released by Seattle earlier this year, or Coleman, who was released by Philadelphia after the 2003 season, or Sauerbrun, who simply had worn out his welcome in Carolina, can rebound when given another chance.
The biggest risk is injury, which caught up to Elliss last season. After looking as if he was on the brink of a big season during last year's training camp, Elliss ended up missing eight games with chest, calf and back injuries.
"But after you get cut, you sit back and you still think you can play," Coleman said. "After somebody lets you go, you hope the phone will ring to give you one more chance. As you get along, I think you appreciate those chances more and more so when you get one, you want to take advantage of it."
"I just think experience counts," Shanahan said. "We'll see if they all step up, but there are some guys, you just look at them, look at what they've done, look at the film, and you decide they're worth a chance. How could you now take a chance on a guy like Jerry Rice? I'll take my chances on a guy like Jerry Rice any time, guys who work, guys with some character."