Demaryius Thomas: Elway, Broncos have high expectations

Denver Broncos general manager John Elway spoke to media via a conference call on Wednesday to discuss perhaps the biggest move of the offseason for the team, signing Demaryius Thomas to a long-term contract extension.

Thomas received a 5-year, $70 million deal worth a reported $43.5 million in guarantees. Elway says the Broncos and representatives for Thomas hadn’t talked since early June, but deadlines spur action.

“It really started this morning,” Elway said. I think that we had met with [Thomas’ agent] Todd France back in end of May—first of June—and both got our offers on the table. At that point in time, there wasn’t any movement until this morning. Once again, things got going this morning. That’s really when we had get a deal done.”

After his ‘holdout’ of sorts through offseason activities, Elway and the Broncos know they aren’t going to be able to take big risks with him as it pertains to training camp and getting him up to speed. Thomas is in a unique situation this offseason and will have to be brought along as quickly as possible without hurting the team. Elway knows that as well as anybody, but that wasn’t the over-arching focus on Wednesday.

“We’re thrilled that we were able to get the deal done with him and that D.T. is going to be a Bronco for another five years. We have high expectations that he is going to be a big part of the success we have.”

As for the numbers being eerily similar to the ones Dez Bryant received from the Dallas Cowboys, Elway and the Broncos maintained they had no communication with the Cowboys and had their own contract proposals written up.

“We had our numbers set up and picked out. We tried to figure out what we believed was the correct value for us and for the Broncos as well as Demaryius. I think it just took a while to get to that point. Any time you have two special football players at the same position that are going into a franchise year, there is always caution that no one jumps the gun. I think it went as long as it went to be able to make sure that everybody—especially from the agent side—that they were where they needed to be.”

Even though Demaryius Thomas is an incredible integral part of the team’s future in Denver, Elway knows the ramifications a deal like this can have on the future of your salary cap. With that being said, there is no doubt, according to Elway, that the Broncos will be able to execute a plan to not only keep Von Miller around next year, but all of the great players on this roster.

“We are always planning for the future. Everyone talks about us winning now, and my point is that we want to win from now on. When we go through our budget meetings year in and year out, that is what we look at. We have a three-year plan and a four-year plan, and we try to look into the future to see where we are in order to budget everybody to keep all of our great football players. That is what we want to do—draft well, keep our own and fill in with free agency where we can. D.T. was the first step.

We will have a plan for Von next year as well as with other players. We have several other really good football players coming into their last year. We’ll monitor as many as we can. It’s impossible to hold on to everybody in the salary cap era, but we’re going to do the very best we can to keep them all.”

Some fans were pretty worried about the Broncos having to pay Thomas such a significant portion of the salary cap every year. Wide receiver isn’t considered a premium position compared to quarterback, left tackle, or edge rusher, but Thomas is a huge part of the future of this franchise.

Elway insists he’ll be worth it, and reminds us all that he’s earned it.

“I think you look at the production that D.T. has had in the last three years. I don’t think there’s any question that D.T. is one of the top wide receivers in the league and he’s being compensated that way now. It’s very well deserved on D.T.’s part. We have high expectations. We think he’s coming right into his prime and we don’t anticipate him backing up at all.

The expectations are going to be increased now and we just think that he has all the skills. Plus with the type of person he is, he’s the type of player and guy that we want on the Denver Broncos. We have a tremendous amount of confidence in D.T. and it’s why we’re comfortable paying this kind of money.”

Next: Demaryius Thomas: Cornerstone Piece of Broncos Offense