Denver Broncos fans hopeful of franchise-tagged wide receiver Demaryius Thomas signing a brand spanking new long-term contract with the team prior to the July 15 deadline are about to be pretty disappointed.
According to the latest report, the Broncos and Thomas are "unlikely" to get a deal done by Wednesday, the final date by which franchise-tagged player can sign new deals with their teams.
"In talking to sources on both sides, they indicate that while it is still possible for a deal to get done, it is unlikely because Denver is not anywhere close to the kind of contract demands that Thomas has put out there," Jason Cole of Bleacher Report revealed Monday.
It seems, per Cole, that the collusion investigation, launched by the NFLPA and first reported on by ESPN's Adam Schefter late last week, and which concerns both the Broncos' negotiations with Thomas and the Dallas Cowboys' negotiations with Dez Bryant, has slowed talks between Denver and their big-bodied wideout.
"The crux of the issue is that both teams have come nowhere near close to the kind of deal that Calvin Johnson received in 2012 which included $48 million guaranteed," Cole reports.
Johnson, 29, signed a seven-year, $113.45 million deal with the Detroit Lions prior to the 2012 season which carried a whopping $48.75 million in guarantees. Johnson was 26 at the time of signing - Thomas is 27 and will turn 28 during the 2015 season.
Of course, there's also fading Hall of Fame signal-caller Peyton Manning to consider as well.
"The final part of this issue, if Thomas doesn't get done, the question becomes when will he show up? And with Peyton Manning having both a new offense and a new head coach in Gary Kubiak, the question is, how concerned will Manning be as training camp plays out and he's trying to learn that new offense and get used to the play-calling of Kubiak while not having his favorite receiver?"
With Manning likely looking at one final run at a Super Bowl, the notoriously hard-nosed preparer is probably desperate to have any and every weapon available to him in training camp and the preseason, the time when he likes to develop timing and rhythm with his pass-catchers, and is almost assured to be none-too-pleased with Thomas' expected absence.
What this all means for Manning and a Broncos team still settling in under Kubiak, remains to be seen, but hey, there's still Cody Latimer, right?
