Broncos in the market for a new right guard after declining Ron Leary’s option.
The Broncos will have a new right guard this season as veteran Ron Leary’s contract option will not be picked up, according to general manager John Elway.
Leary, who ended all three years of his Broncos career on injured reserve, was scheduled to count a whopping $9.3 million on the salary cap; his exit creates $8.437 million of space, pushing the Broncos’ current total to more than $70 million.
Elway said the Broncos will pick up the options for kicker Brandon McManus and inside linebacker Todd Davis, who will have cap numbers of $4.25 million and $6 million, respectively.
Next up is deciding quarterback Joe Flacco’s future. He sustained a season-ending neck injury last October and essentially can’t be released until he passes a physical.
“We’re still working on that,” Elway said. “We’ll get that figured out before the league year (begins March 18).”
Coach Vic Fangio provided health updates on cornerback Bryce Callahan (foot, missed all of 2019) and outside linebacker Bradley Chubb (torn ACL in Week 4).
Callahan had a second surgery to fix the hardware problem in his foot.
“He says he’s doing much better compared to this time last year,” Fangio said.
Fangio said Chubb will be held out of the Broncos’ organized team activity workouts this spring.
“He’s (at the facility) every day with a great attitude and a great work ethic and I’ll be shocked if he’s not as good as new,” Fangio said.
Around the combine
Broncos, Bears practices. Two years ago, Fangio was Chicago’s defensive coordinator when he successfully convinced new coach Matt Nagy to have joint practices with the Broncos. The teams want to do work against each other this August.
“(Nagy) wanted to do it last year, but we couldn’t get it (done),” Fangio said. “It’s not official-official, but we should be able to do it this year.”
G. Davis to meet with Broncos. Central Florida receiver Gabriel Davis said he has a formal interview (18 minutes) lined up with the Broncos. Davis (6-foot-3/214 pounds) entered the draft a year early after catching 152 passes for 2,447 yards and 16 touchdowns in 38 games for the Knights.
Elway talks Brady. It figured Elway, in his role as a Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback/current team executive, would be asked about having any interest potential free agent Tom Brady.
“We’d always talk to him, but I think that we’re happy with what we have in Drew (Lock),” Elway said.
Asked if he could envision Brady playing for another team, Elway said: “Tom’s always going to be a New England Patriot. It’ll be interesting for him to kind of explore and see what’s out there. … He’s great for the game and he’s been great for the league.”
Keene lone native. Virginia Tech tight end Dalton Keene is the only Denver area native and believed to be the only Colorado product at this week’s combine.
“It’s definitely pretty cool,” Keene said. “I wish some of my boys would be here with me, but it is cool to be the one guy from Colorado here. It’s a lot of my shoulders, but I’m definitely happy to represent.”
Keene said he had an informal meeting with the Broncos earlier this week.
No hard feelings. Colorado quarterback Steven Montez on coach Mel Tucker leaving for Michigan State after only one season: “I really wish the best for Mel. He was extremely good to me and extremely good to our class. You can’t blame a guy for doubling his salary. I love that man to death.”