Sorry vets.
All draft-pick Broncos rookies are accounted for at the team’s rookie minicamp this weekend with the exception of 7th-round outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper, who underwent a successful heart ablation procedure Wednesday in Ohio. Cooper is already participating in the rookie meetings virtually and is hoping to be cleared to join the team in Denver late next week.
The NFL players union is discouraging its players from participating in team-organized offseason programs at team facilities. Roughly 40 Broncos veterans have not participated in the four-week Phase I conditioning program that has now concluded, although 20 or so veteran players have been participating in team conditioning.
The union was also asking rookie players to not participate in their rookie minicamps but that hasn’t been practical for the kids trying to get up to speed with professional football.
A one-week Phase II offseason program begins Monday and will include football drills and coaching instruction. With the rookies around, will the veterans show up? The most-important Phase III portion of the offseason program begins May 24 and is to end June 18. This includes 10 organized team activity (OTA) practices and a three-practice mandatory minicamp.
Broncos rookies reported for meetings Wednesday night and took physicals Thursday. There will be on-field practice Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
> Video above: Mike Klis breaks down Denver's 2021 schedule.
With the rookies around, Broncos contract boss Rich Hurtado was able to get some deals done. Jamar Johnson, the Broncos’ second of two fifth-round safeties, and Marquiss Spencer, a seventh-round defensive lineman, each received four-year contracts Thursday.
Signing bonuses and contracts are slotted by draft selection number so Johnson, who was selected with the No. 164 pick in the fifth round, got a $310,244 bonus while Spencer, selected with the No. 253 pick in the 7th round, got an $81,396 bonus. Both players also got four minimum salaries of $660,000 this year, $825,000 in 2022, $940,000 in 2023 and $1,055,000 in 2024.
They join fifth-round safety Caden Sterns, sixth-round receiver Seth Williams and seventh-round cornerback Kary Vincent Jr. as Broncos’ draft picks under contract. Still unsigned are first-round pick Pat Surtain II, second-rounder Javonte Williams, third-round selections Quinn Meinerz and Baron Browning, and Cooper.
A look at the Broncos’ draft-pick rookie contracts to date:
Player, Round, Position …….. Signing bonus …. Total contract (4 years)
Caden Sterns, 5th, safety ……..… $330,584 …….… $3,81,584
Jamar Johnson, 5th, safety …..…. $310,244 ….…… $3,790,244
Seth Williams, 6th, WR ………...… $130,704 ….…… $3,610,704
Kary Vincent Jr., 7th, CB …………. $103,412 …...…. $3,583,412
Marquiss Spencer, 7th, DL …….….. $81,396 ….……. $3,561,396
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