Posted by Knowshon Zone | Posted in Denver Broncos, General Knowshon | Posted on 29-07-2009
Denver Broncos rookies reported to training camp on Monday … that is all of them except for Knowshon Moreno, who is still not under contract. It is common for rookies selected in the first round to be a few days late to training camp while their agents work with the front office to come up with a deal.
Knowshon did however sign a sponsorship deal with Reebok, so we’ll probably see him on a few commercials and in your favorite shoe stores at the mall.
From Rotowire:
Head coach Josh McDaniels acknowledged that it will be difficult for Moreno to catch up now that he is missing some time in camp, but that Friday is the most important starting block because that is the first full day with the veteran players. Moreno was the first running back taken in the 2008 draft and many expect him to be the starting running back out of the gate. However, missing time in camp does not bode well for that thinking.
When you gonna sign man, I need you on my fantasy team.
knowshon should sign when the money is right, and not before. check out this bullshit article by denver post sportswriter Mike Klis. And here’s an email I sent to him:
Dear Mike,
I wonder if the Broncos ask you to write columns which sneer at players holding out for more money. Knowshon Moreno is attempting to squeeze every dollar out of his athletic ability. Anything else would be absolutely insane. Barring injury, Knowshon will presumably spend years in the NFL. The idea that a week or two this summer will be any sort of a setback for his career is ridiculous. If you were offered $100,000 for your column next year, but your agent, who you respected, told you that if you waited a week or two, you might just get $112,000, what would you do? Let me guess. You’d be worried that you’d end up permanently behind the other journalists in your attempts to figure out the direction of the paper.
What your column really says is that when contracts are being negotiated, the spare change that’s up for grabs should go to the owners. You should cut the references to “holdouts gone wrong” who have absolutely nothing to do with the athlete under discussion, a fact your column acknowledges after all the wasted ink, and just come out and say that.
If you had half the talent as a writer that Knowshon has as a football player, you’d probably be cooling your heals somewhere while fielding offers, too. Don’t you wish.
Sincerely,
Jason Rhodes
Broncos’ Moreno going nowhere
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/04/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
Knowshon Moreno is now the Broncos’ longest rookie holdout since Cory Gillard.
Cory Gillard? That’s the point.
Moreno, a running back from the University of Georgia selected by the Broncos with the No. 12 overall pick in the April draft, will enter the fifth day of his contract holdout today.
That’s the longest delay by a Broncos rookie since 1997 when Gillard, a fourth-round safety from Ball State, held out for eight days.
Gillard wound up signing a three-year, $723,000 contract on the eve of the Broncos’ first preseason game — then got cut a few weeks later. The holdout only appeared more ill-advised after the Broncos went on to win their first NFL title that season.
It’s virtually certain Moreno won’t suffer
First-Round Picks
View slide show of Broncos first-round draft pick Robert Ayers.
View slide show of Broncos first-round draft pick Knowshon Moreno.
the same fate as Gillard, not with the Broncos expected to eventually sign their rookie tailback to a five-year contract that includes a guarantee of $12 million-plus.
But with the Broncos signing their other first-round pick, outside linebacker Robert Ayers, on Monday to a five-year contract that includes a $9.7 million guarantee, Moreno will be the last of the 2009 Broncos to show up.
“Honestly, it is a little setback,” said LaMont Jordan, who opened training camp as the Broncos’ No. 1 tailback. “If you ask around with the history of the league for any rookie that didn’t report to camp on time, it would be a minor setback.
“But the good thing about Know-shon is that when he came in here (during the offseason minicamps), he was in good shape and he seems like he’s a fast learner.”
Although contract talks are expected to pick up, Moreno continued to work out on the Georgia campus Monday. A deal would have to be finalized in a hurry for Moreno to attend the Broncos’ eighth training camp practice this afternoon.
Then again, the Broncos can give Moreno their full attention after cutting their rookie holdout problem in half by reaching a deal with Ayers between practice sessions Monday.
The No. 18 overall pick in the draft, Ayers received a 16 percent increase from the $8.36 million guarantee Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco received in the same slot last year, including a $13 million base (guarantee plus salaries).
Ayers missed the first seven practices but after passing his conditioning test Monday afternoon, he said he would be on the practice field today.
“I felt like I was missing an opportunity to make an impression and earn a spot on my team,” Ayers said. “I also don’t want my teammates to feel like I was putting myself above the team. The guys in the locker room understand it’s the nature of the business.”
Ayers said he received mostly congratulations from his teammates Monday but expects some welcome-to-the-NFL antics today.
A defensive end at the University of Tennessee, Ayers will play the pass-rushing outside linebacker position in the Broncos’ new 3-4 scheme. To help make the adjustment, Ayers said he worked out hard enough during his holdout to lose 4 or 5 pounds.
“I want to make a name for myself,” said Ayers, who will wear No. 56 in honor of former Broncos and Tennessee Vols linebacker Al Wilson. “Getting to the NFL is phase I. The next step is to become a big name in the NFL, and that’s what I want to do. I want make my name a household name, and I want to win games and I want to win championships.”
At the very least, Ayers should become more familiar than Cory Gillard.
from the denver post:
The next time Knowshon Moreno runs a sprint, it could be on the immaculate grounds of Dove Valley.
The next time Moreno pumps iron, it likely will be from inside the Broncos’ state-of-the-art, 9,000-square-foot conditioning center.
So long, Georgia Bulldogs. Moreno can set his fast, elusive feet inside Broncos headquarters again after he and the team reached an agreement on a five-year, $23 million contract that includes a guarantee of nearly $13 million.
“There wasn’t much I could do except work out all week,” Moreno said. “I’m happy to be part of the Broncos now, and I’m going to get back there and work hard.”
Thus, Moreno’s contract holdout expired at eight days. He was the Broncos’ longest rookie holdout since 1997, when Cory Gilliard also held out for eight days.
As the rest of the Broncos labored through training camp — rookies reported on July 27, or 12 days ago — Moreno returned to the University of Georgia campus, where he worked on his strength and conditioning.
Now it’s time to start giving NFL defensive players the slip.
“He’s got some work to do to catch up,” said Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, noting Moreno missed the team’s first 12 training camp practices. “He’ll learn his role after he gets here, that’s the best way to say it. Whatever he does with the opportunities he has when he gets here, that’ll tell us where to play him and how much to play, and that goes for everybody.”
The No. 12 overall selection and first running back taken in the 2009 draft, Moreno is expected to participate in the team’s training camp workout Sunday afternoon. The team is off today, so it may not be until Sunday before he is given his physical exam, signs his first professional contract and takes the Broncos’ camp-opening conditioning test.
“We’re trying to work all of that out now,” Moreno said Friday evening from Georgia.
In part because the NFL reopened its collective bargaining agreement — a move that could lead to a work stoppage in 2011 — this year’s first-round draft class was collectively difficult to sign.
In fact, the four players drafted directly in front of Moreno — Buffalo’s Aaron Maybin (No. 11), San Francisco’s Michael Crabtree (No. 10), Green Bay’s B.J. Raji (No. 9) and Jacksonville’s Eugene Monroe (No.
— remain unsigned.
The Broncos were among the teams who struggled to reconcile the larger-than-usual rise in contract value. Robert Ayers, the Broncos’ other first-round draft pick and No. 18 overall, held out for 3 1/2 days before signing a five-year contract that included a $9.7 million guarantee — a 16 percent increase from the guarantee Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco received as the No. 18 pick in 2008.
Moreno’s deal didn’t get done until he received a 13.8 percent increase from the $11.415 million guarantee Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady received as the No. 12 overall pick last year. Moreno, 22, entered the draft following his sophomore season at Georgia, the same school that produced Broncos star cornerback Champ Bailey and former Denver running back great Terrell Davis.
Moreno rushed for 2,734 yards on 5.6 yards per carry in his two college seasons, and added another 645 yards receiving on 53 catches.
It’s unclear whether the Broncos will deem Moreno ready to play in their first preseason game Friday at San Francisco, but eventually he is expected to be part of a tailback rotation that also includes veterans Correll Buckhalter and LaMont Jordan.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
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