Broncos sign OL Kuper for 6 years, $28M
June 5, 2010
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP)—The Denver Broncos decided to sign right guard ChrisKuper(notes) to a long-term deal even with labor uncertainty looming.
Could Elvis Dumervil(notes), the league’s leader in sacks last season, be next?
Dumervil is in the same situation as Kuper. Both were drafted in 2006. Bothentered this season as restricted free agents. Both were searching for financialstability.
Kuper received his first, a six-year deal worth $28.012 million, includingabout $13 million guaranteed according to the Denver Post.
The agreement came as a pleasant surprise to Kuper, especially since there’sno salary cap in 2010.
“I’m very, very happy that it did happen,” Kuper said Friday in ateleconference call. “I think there’s guys out there that were getting dealsdone. Not a ton, but to be one of those guys, it’s an unbelievable feeling.”
While all the attention was focused on whether Dumervil would receive a newdeal, Kuper’s negotiations slipped under the radar. Kuper signed his tender of$2.521 million this spring, as did quarterback Kyle Orton(notes) ($2.621 million),who’s still waiting to hear word of a long-term commitment.
Dumervil recently signed a waiver to participate in passing camp, but nothis tender worth $3.168 million.
“There were a lot of question marks with this offseason, with this uncappedyear and what was going to happen with the restricted guys,” Kuper said. “Wereguys going to be signed to long-term deals?”
Will Dumervil?
“I haven’t talked to Elvis too much about it. It’s his personal deal,too,” said Kuper, a standout at the University of North Dakota. “I’ll let himtake care of his end of it.”
The 6-foot-4, 303-pound Kuper started 15 games for the Broncos last seasonafter missing the season opener with an ankle injury.
According to STATS Inc., Kuper has allowed just five sacks in 42 careerstarts.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said in a release Friday that the Broncos lookforward to his “leadership and toughness in our efforts to build a championshipcaliber team.”
Denver started off strong last season under McDaniels, jumping out to a 6-0start. But the team faltered down the stretch and missed the playoffs with an8-8 record.
Still, Kuper thinks the Broncos are headed in the right direction.
“We’re going to have a lot of success in the near future,” he said.
Kuper has proven to be quite adaptable on the offensive line. He came inlearning Mike Shanahan’s zone-blocking scheme. But when McDaniels took over forShanahan, Kuper had to adjust to more of a power system.
“We ran some power stuff in the past. We didn’t major in it,” Kuperexplained. “I feel like I can play in any system.”
The 27-year-old Kuper also is part of a youthful line that also includes ProBowl left tackle Ryan Clady(notes) and right tackle Ryan Harris(notes).
Clady is recovering from a partially torn left patellar tendon, the resultof an injury while playing basketball. Harris was hampered by toe problems lastseason, before being placed on the injured reserve in December. He returned tothe field Friday for passing camp.
“Those two guys are, in my opinion, two of the best at their positions inthe league,” Kuper said. “To be able to play next to Ryan Harris all the timemakes me a better player. Ryan Clady came into this league and played awesome.To have us three guys playing together, hopefully for a long time, we’re goingto do some good things up front.”
Denver also signed fullback Kyle Eckel(notes) on Friday and released third-stringquarterback Tom Brandstater(notes) as well as offensive lineman Maurice Williams(notes).
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