Dumervil deal worth $61.5M through 2015
July 23, 2010
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP)—Elvis Dumervil’s(notes) route to riches was somewhatunconventional by today’s NFL standards for superstars. He didn’t posture,wasn’t petulant or pouty. He didn’t rip his coaches or the front office, holdout of minicamps or ask for a trade.
Coming off an NFL-leading and team-record 17 sacks last season, Dumervilsigned his restricted free agent tender and continued working out with theDenver Broncos during the offseason while his agent and general managerexchanged figures.
Dumervil hit pay dirt with a $61.5 million extension through 2015 thatincludes $43.168 million in guarantees, a record for a player at hispass-rushing position.
His agent and his coach both suggested Dumervil’s payday wasn’t just abouthis pass-rushing prowess but also came about because of his patience andprofessionalism.
Dumervil said he was raised with a strong work ethic and he praised theadvice he got from family members and his agent.
“And so at the end of the day, I knew my value and there was no need to goout and pout or go out, you know, the way other guys may have handled thingsbecause I know that character is No. 1 for me and I knew if I could bring thestats along with that it gave me a good chance,” Dumervil said.
Coach Josh McDaniels, who has shipped Pro Bowlers Jay Cutler(notes) and BrandonMarshall(notes) out of town—where they got big extensions from their new teams—saidthe humble, hardworking Dumervil is the kind of player a team can be builtaround.
“The way he has handled this lengthy negotiation this offseason is a greatexample of the type of player and person we want on our team,” McDaniels said.
Dumervil’s agent, Gary Wichard, lauded both his client’s quiet approach toan extension and also the Broncos for coming up big at a time when uncertaintysurrounds the league’s labor accord, which is set to expire after the upcomingseason.
“I give all the credit to Elvis for conducting himself with classthroughout the whole process this off season,” Wichard told The AssociatedPress in an e-mail Friday. “Also, Brian Xanders did a great job of getting thisdone through some tough circumstances and signing a ‘Josh McDaniels guy.”’
Dumervil’s approach stood in stark contrast to that of Marshall, a member ofthe same draft class who was a similar bargain for the Broncos for severalseasons as a fourth-round steal in 2006.
Marshall’s petulance consumed the team at times last season. He wassuspended during training camp and again for the season finale forinsubordination. The Broncos traded him to Miami just before the draft, and theDolphins gave him a contract extension through 2014 that could be worth $50million.
One of McDaniels’ first orders of business as coach in Denver was to grantCutler’s trade request and send his recalcitrant quarterback to the Bears, whogave him a two-year, $30 million extension last season.
About the only time Dumervil talked money publicly last season was when hementioned in passing to an AP reporter that pass-rushers “get paid” because oftheir value to a team’s defense. So stunning was his comment that teammates whooverheard it immediately gave him grief, albeit good-naturedly.
Dumervil thrived last season in the Broncos’ new defensive alignment thatturned him from a classic 4-3 defensive end in a three-point stance into astand-up outside linebacker in the 3-4. He earned a trip to the Pro Bowl and wasnamed All-Pro, burnishing his credentials for a contract extension.
Although the total value of Dumervil’s deal isn’t as high as other toppass-rushers, his $43.168 million in guaranteed money surpasses that ofChicago’s Julius Peppers(notes) ($42 million), Dallas’ DeMarcus Ware(notes) ($40 million),Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs(notes) ($38 million) and Minnesota’s Jared Allen(notes) ($31million).
The Broncos could have put off a deal with Dumervil because the league mightshut down in 2011 without a new labor accord, and they could have slapped thefranchise tag on him after that, effectively keeping him away from unfetteredfree agency.
Instead, they rewarded him with the biggest deal since Champ Bailey’s(notes)six-year, $63 million contract in 2005.
Dumervil realizes his sack total could go down this season even as his valuerises because he’ll see plenty of double-teams and offenses scheming away fromhim. That makes it imperative for the Broncos to develop another pass-rushersuch as outside linebacker Robert Ayers(notes).
“If my sack total goes down and other guys make plays—that’s what it’sall about,” Dumervil said. “It’s not really about the numbers all the time,it’s about how effective I can be in trying to free up someone else. As far asthat guy, I don’t know. We’ll have to see when the time happens.”
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