Demaryius Thomas: Broncos WR cornerstone piece of offense

For the last five years, Demaryius Thomas has created some of the greatest moments in Denver Broncos history with his incredible ability to catch the football.

After being slapped with the franchise tag, it came down to less than 30 minutes prior to the deadline, but the Broncos and their star receiver finally came to terms on a brand new, five-year contract worth $70 million, cementing Thomas as the cornerstone piece of this offense for the foreseeable future.

It’s hard to imagine the Broncos without Demaryius Thomas. Since trading Brandon Marshall what feels like a lifetime ago, Thomas has been part of some of the most critical pieces of Broncos history, including the first ever walk-off touchdown pass in the NFL’s newest overtime rules.

The walk-off catch, Peyton Manning’s 509th touchdown pass, and the pass that broke the all-time record for passing yards in a season (Peyton Manning) are just a few of Thomas’ greatest moments as a member of the Broncos. Here’s to many more.

When Gary Kubiak became head coach of the Denver Broncos, it was said that the emphasis on the wide receiver position might be diminished due to more of a focus on the running game. That might be true, but that never meant that Thomas wasn’t in the team’s long-term plans.

Kubiak maintained contact with Thomas, even sending him a playbook to study while he waited out the franchise tag deadline period.

It seemed like an incredibly long wait, but after all the rumors of pessimism that a deal would get done, and the preparations of Thomas holding out possibly into the season, it was more than a breath of fresh air for Broncos fans to know that their beloved No. 88 would be around for five more years. And Thomas earned that new contract with his play on the field.

Statistically, you’d be hard pressed to find a receiver over the last four years who has been markedly better than Demaryius Thomas. He’s performed not only in the regular season, but the postseason as well, averaging 99.9 yards per game in the playoffs. He’s put together a monster last three seasons with 4,483 yards on 297 catches with 35 touchdown grabs.

Every penny in that contract has been earned.

We talked about it on the site previously, but Thomas deserved to be the next highest paid receiver in the league after Calvin Johnson, who had a set of rare circumstances that forced the Lions to criminally overpay him a few years ago. There was no way the Broncos — or perhaps any team — was going to touch Calvin Johnson money when it came to Demaryius Thomas, but being the next highest paid receiver in the game?

That was always on the table.

The Broncos reportedly upped the ante on their offer five times, and hadn’t had any negotiations in more than a month before getting the deal done today. What appeared to be a slim-to-none chance of getting a new deal done turned quickly into one of the biggest moments of the Broncos’ offseason.

This year figures to be a heck of a year for DT, who just signed a monster contract that puts him among the highest paid Denver Broncos players of all-time, and he got news earlier this week that his mother would be released from prison in early November, so she will be able to see him play this season.

The next time the Denver Broncos take the field, you can expect to see 88 out there as well, the team captain leading the way. With Peyton Manning likely playing his final season in Denver, this offense belongs to Demaryius Thomas now. The Broncos have made a significant investment, and now it’s time for him to make sure he continues to get better, and to make others around him better.

He’s a Denver Bronco for life, or at least for the majority of his professional career. He played out his rookie contract without putting up any kind of fuss. He surpassed probably any and every expectation that anyone could have had for him when Josh McDaniels drafted him in 2010. Some might be a little hesitant to accept the fact that the Broncos paid this kind of money to a wide receiver, but that’s just the way it goes when your best player on offense happens to play wide receiver.

The Broncos know better than anyone the implications this move has on the future of their salary cap. And to be honest, fans shouldn’t be really thinking about that. The truth of the matter is, the Broncos will have ample cap space and a rising cap number in general to keep Thomas and plenty of other stars around while this team competes for a Super Bowl in the coming seasons.

And with the return of Thomas on a five-year contract, expectations have been set. This player will lead the Broncos into whatever the next era is.

The relief in all of this is, the dark cloud of the franchise tag is gone. Demaryius Thomas isn’t holding out. The Broncos aren’t going to miss him for any practices or any games because of a contract dispute. This — pardon me if I’m overreacting a bit — is a lot like winning a regular season game. It came down to the wire, but the Broncos got it done and locked in their best offensive player.

If there’s anyone happier than Demaryius Thomas right now, it’s the guy who’s going to be throwing him the ball in Peyton Manning. Manning and Thomas have been arguably the most potent QB-to-WR duo in the NFL over the last three seasons. They have developed an uncanny chemistry and put together some of the greatest performances this team has ever seen.

With this new contract now signed, the Broncos can come into training camp with a lot of optimism, no distractions, and plenty of excitement. Demaryius Thomas is back, and it’s not just on a franchise tender. The Broncos let go of all these in-house players, including some of Thomas’ top running mates (Eric Decker, Julius Thomas) on the offensive side of the ball in order to make this move happen.

Heck, even Manning took a $4 million payout to try and make something happen this offseason.

I guess the next time Peyton wants to go to a steakhouse, Demaryius better bring his wallet. He’s earned it.

Next: Thomas Signs His New Contract