Once again, Broncos general manager John Elway is going to the other side of the table to nab his new contract negotiator.
In what could be a blow to the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) conglomerate, Rich Hurtado will be the new man in charge of managing the Broncos’ salary cap and overall football budget, a league source tells 9NEWS. Hurtado will officially receive a newly created Vice President of Football position.
Hurtado, who spent the past 11 years working as a business partner with player agent Todd France, will replace Mike Sullivan, whose contract was not renewed after eight years on the job.
Hurtado has experience on both sides of the bargaining table, a unique quality that had him on Elway’s radar for a while, a source tells 9NEWS.
According to his Linkedin profile, Hurtado worked with the Philadelphia Eagles as salary cap analyst and football administrator for 2 1/2 years from June 2006 through January 2009.
Broncos’ director of player personnel Matt Russell worked for the Eagles as a regional and national scout from 2006-08.
As Russell hooked up with the Broncos in 2009, Hurtado went to work for France, whose agency merged with the agency giant CAA (Creative Artists Agency) in 2015.
And now Hurtado is going back to work on the team side of contract negotiations.
Bringing in Hurtado could help safety Justin Simmons work out a multiyear deal with the Broncos. Simmons is represented by France who is expected to seek a deal north of $14 million per year.
The franchise tag for safeties has been projected to carry a 2020 salary between $11.5 and $12.8 million. At this point, Simmons is a strong candidate to receive the franchise tag no later than March 10.
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