The Denver Broncos have retained C.J. Anderson on a four-year, $18 million deal after initially hitting him with a low-round RFA tender. Anderson is coming back to Denver.
It was first reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN, but running back C.J. Anderson confirmed it and will be coming back to Denver for the next four years.
I will be apart of the Broncos for 4 more years blessed to be apart of this wonderful Organization and super blessed for this opp 32-254-22
— Cj Anderson (@cjandersonb22) March 15, 2016
Just got off the phone w/CJ & let him know we're excited to match the offer sheet. We have high expectations for CJ and are glad he's back!
— John Elway (@johnelway) March 15, 2016
Broncos have informed RB CJ Anderson they are matching Miami's offer sheet, per source. He stays in Denver.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2016
This is great news after the Broncos appeared to be doing absolutely nothing this offseason. They were letting their own players leave left and right, but getting C.J. Anderson back was as much of a statement as anything they have done this year.
Anderson was an undrafted rookie free agent that made the team in 2013 out of Cal after backing up Isi Sofele. He came to Denver backing up Knowshon Moreno, Montee Ball, and Ronnie Hillman, who were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks.
Now, Anderson will be the third highest paid running back in the league in 2016 while Moreno and Ball are out of it. Ronnie Hillman does not yet have a new team and is an unrestricted free agent.
No one can deny the love the fan base has for Anderson, either. I had personally convinced myself he was leaving, and that the Broncos had made the right decision in doing so. I’d been monitoring Twitter to see the breaking news update that Anderson was going to be a Miami Dolphin. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong, because Anderson deserves this pay day.
Putting the team on his back in 2014, Anderson had some injuries hinder his 2015 season, but he should be a great featured back in Gary Kubiak’s offense, which he at one point called running back heaven.
This is a great move for the Broncos, especially on the heels of the New England Patriots trading their best edge defender Chandler Jones to the NFC West and Arizona.
Welcome back, C.J.