Drama-free zone for Broncos regarding 2018 rookie contracts
Jul 6, 2018, 7:52 AM | Updated: 7:53 am
When it comes to the getting the 2018 class of rookies under contract, it appears this offseason has been a drama-free zone for the Denver Broncos.
On Thursday, the club wrapped up the final piece of its 10-man draft, third-round running back Royce Freeman, to a four-year deal, leaving the Broncos with no loose ends in terms, at least in terms of its rookie class, well ahead of training camp.
“You can take these next couple of weeks and not worry about it. Once you hit training camp, there is nobody who will be holding out or won’t be available,” Brandon Stokley, host of “Stokley and Zach,” said on Thursday.
Freeman’s deal comes on the heels of Denver inking its top pick, No. 5-overall Bradley Chubb, to his first NFL contract worth a fully-guaranteed $27.5 million with an $18.1 million signing bonus.
When that deal got done in late June, “Pritchard and Cecil” host Cecil Lammey lauded the move for making sure there was “no drama in Denver.”
“There is drama everywhere in this conference. Drama with the Patriots. Drama with the Steelers. I don’t know what in the hell Antonio Brown’s saying on a daily basis. Just talking nonsense,” Lammey said at the time.
“No drama in Denver. Advantage Broncos.”
Stokley said Thursday that NFL teams don’t really worry about holdouts following the latest collective bargaining agreement signed in 2011, so it’s likely Freeman’s deal would have gotten done “sooner rather than later” anyway.
But Stokley said it’s still a good thing it won’t “drag into training camp.”
“(It’s) good news for the Broncos though. Got it done. Got it out of the way. No issue there. And he’s a guy who’s going to be competing for the starting running back spot is now signed,” Stokley said. “All the picks are signed.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
