Mile Klis of the Denver Post brought up an interesting point recently in regards to Elvis Dumervill and Champ Bailey’s contract situations.

Both players will become free agents at the end of the season and both could command salaries that push north of $10 million per season. If the Broncos give one player a long-term deal, will they be able to do the same with the other?

Dumervil is 26 and coming off a season in which he led the league in sacks with 17. Bailey is 32, but is still playing at a Pro Bowl level, is a fan favorite and recently told the media that he doesn’t plan on hanging ‘em up for at least another five more years.

Generally, teams pay younger players first and legit pass-rushers like Dumervil are hard to come by. But Pro Bowl caliber cornerbacks don’t fall off trees either and Bailey hasn’t shown signs of decline.

What is owner Pat Bowlen to do? If he pays both of them market value, he’ll cripple his team’s budget and the Broncos probably wouldn’t be able to be major players in free agency next year. If he only pays one of them and allows the other to walk, he’ll have an angry fan base on his hands and worse, he’ll have a huge hole to fill defensively. If he gives one player a long-term deal and franchises the other, he could sabotage his short-term budget.

Even though Dumervil has toed the company line his entire career, this is one of the reasons why the Broncos have chosen to wait to give him a long-term contract. If he plays well this season, then they’ll have a huge decision to make at the end of the year. If he doesn’t play well, they might have an excuse to let him hit the free agent market and then they can invest long-term money in Bailey.

Either way, it doesn’t appear that Bowlen and the Broncos are ready to make a decision, which is why Dumervil still doesn’t have a multi-year deal.

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The Broncos are proving that if a player works hard, keeps his mouth shut and produces on the field, that he’ll be…threatened with a pay cut.

According to the Denver Post, the Broncos recently sent a letter to linebacker Elvis Dumervil threatening him that if he doesn’t sign his tender by June 15, then they’ll exercise their right to reduce his 2010 salary.

Keep in mind that Dumervil is the player that led the NFL in sacks last season with 17. He’s also the one that didn’t complain when Denver demanded that he switch positions after it hired Mike Nolan and implemented the 3-4 defense.

Albert Haynesworth hasn’t shown up to one of the Redskins’ workouts (voluntary or mandatory) because he doesn’t want to play in the 3-4, yet Dumervil not only doesn’t complain about the switch, but also excels in his new position and the Broncos are threatening to reduce his pay. What a joke.

Granted, players like Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall have burned Denver the past two years by taking a hard stance with the team in order to get what they want. But Dumervil has been the exact opposite of difficult this entire time. And even though the warning might just be a formality, it was in poor taste by a Broncos organization that has been heavily criticized for some of the personnel decisions its made since Josh McDaniels arrived.

The NFL is a business and it’ll always be that way. But there are few players that toe the company line without bitching about their contracts and Dumervil is one of them. He deserves a new contract – not a warning about a pay reduction.

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According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Broncos are denying that quarterback Kyle Orton has ever been on the trading block.

Broncos official texted on report Denver had shopped QB Kyle Orton: “Kyle Orton Has NEVER been available or discussed. Ever! Period.”

The Broncos aren’t going to risk upsetting Orton by making it public that he’s on the trading block. Because if they do have intentions of trading him and a deal never goes through, then their starting quarterback will go through the entire season knowing that his team wanted to deal him in the offseason.

The Broncos find themselves in a tricky situation. Orton’s contract expires at the end of the year and with three developmental quarterbacks (Brady Quinn, Tim Tebow and Tom Brandstater) behind him on the depth chart, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Broncos to try to get something for the veteran QB now before he bolts at the end of the year.

Then again, the Broncos need to go with the quarterback that they believe gives them the best chance to win now. With a year of Josh McDaniels’ offensive system already under his belt, that player is Orton – not Quinn or anyone else. Will Orton get Denver to the Super Bowl this year? Probably not, but he’ll likely perform better than any other quarterback on the roster and therefore, it might not be worth it for the Broncos to trade him for a mid-round pick. (I’m just speculating what they would get for him, but it would most likely be a mid-to-late rounder.)

That said, if Quinn turns in a great training camp/preseason and proves that he can be a capable starter, then the Broncos would obviously be more apt to trade Orton before the season. It makes no sense to have two capable starters on the roster when one of them will surely be moving on in a year. Might as well get something in return for him now.

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Denver Post columnist Woody Paige walked the line of comparing Broncos’ rookie quarterback Tim Tebow to legend John Elway in one of his recent articles, including this one:

“Elway could be Joe Namath with good knees, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He won’t be reserved a spot in the Hall of Fame just yet, but just wait.”

Critics charged then that Elway would not become a great pro quarterback, was a loser and an inaccurate thrower in college and wasn’t worth the money ($5 million over five years) or the waste of draft picks. His controversial stand, his hairstyle and even his teeth were disparaged, and it was said he couldn’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t start in the league for several years.

Duh.

The spectacle lasted for 16 seasons.

And this one:

When Elway reported for rookie camp in July, his every movement — well, almost every movement — was chronicled. “Media Stalk Each Of Elway’s Steps.” More press than players attended workouts in Greeley. Dan Reeves bubbled about Elway, calling him the best young quarterback he had ever seen. Elway, Reeves said, had the star-quality personality — an, if you will, “it” factor. One day at a country club “Ben Hogan walked in. Nobody had to tell us he was Hogan. Elway has the same thing, that charisma. I felt it the first time I ever saw him.”

Reeves said Elway could play right away (although the Broncos had a veteran incumbent). Elway started the opening game.

“Boy Scout Will Lead,” a headline declared.

Hmm. Any of that sound familiar?

It’s remarkable that people either love or hate Tebow (the football player – not the person). Listening to the way people talk about him, one would think that he’s either Hall of Fame bound or that he won’t even be able to tie his shoes before games. There doesn’t seem to be an in-between with him.

I’ve maintained all along that I thought it was stupid to trade three picks for Tebow in last month’s draft and I won’t sway from that opinion. I think he’s a massive project and I don’t see him getting many meaningful snaps under center this year unless the Broncos grow impatient. To think he’s going to start this year as a rookie seems far-fetched, especially if Denver doesn’t wind up trading Kyle Orton at some point before the season. But I’ve been wrong before (many times) and I’ll be wrong again, so who knows.

In terms of Tebow becoming the next Elway……………uh……………

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Before trading three picks in order to select Tim Tebow in the first round of last April’s draft, the Broncos acquired Brady Quinn in a trade with the Browns and already had veteran Kyle Orton and developmental quarterback Tom Brandstater on the roster. With all four of the signal callers listed on its depth chart, Denver now has a freaking mess surplus at the position.

The most likely scenario is that Orton will be the starter this year, while Quinn serves as his backup. Tebow will probably be worked into the offense in specialty packages and Brandstater will likely spend most of the season on the practice squad. Then, once Orton’s contract expires at the end of the year, Quinn and Tebow will battle for the starting job in 2011, while Brandstater assumes the No. 3 role.

But what if the Broncos shook things up right now? What if the team traded Orton and then Quinn, whom Josh McDaniels and his staff think very highly of, started? That would mean that Tebow would get more reps in practice (it’s easier for teams to give players more reps if they’re the backup than the No. 3) and the Broncos also wouldn’t have to worry about possibly losing Brandstater to another team. (Other teams can sign taxi squad players at will, as long as they put them on the active roster.)

As Woody Paige of the Denver Post writes, Orton isn’t the long-term answer in Denver. He merely serves as a bridge between now and whenever Tebow is ready to start, so why not trade him now? Quinn might not give the Broncos the best chance of winning, but it’s not like Orton is Peyton Manning.

McDaniels and the Broncos made it clear on the opening night of the draft that Tebow was their future. Seeing as how they traded for Quinn (who has starting experience, mind you), it might not be a bad idea for them to deal Orton if they can find any suitors. He’s going to leave after the season anyway, so it’s worth it for Denver to get compensation for him now if they can.

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After the Broncos’ traded multiple picks (rather foolishly in my opinion) in order to select Tim Tebow in the first round of last week’s draft, Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports wonders which quarterback will likely be the odd man out in Denver.

7. Who is the odd quarterback out in Denver?
In the perfect world, Tim Tebow would be on the roster to sit and learn and develop with nonstop NFL coaching. But he has to get some snaps, too, and the No. 3 quarterback rarely ever sees those. So you can bet that Tebow is going to get an opportunity to show he can be the backup with the Denver Broncos this season. And frankly, it’s not out of the realm of possibility he could swipe the starting job. It’s unlikely, but you can’t rule it out. The one guy who seems to suddenly be on the outside looking in is Brady Quinn. He was acquired for a low price – running back Peyton Hillis and fairly meaningless late-round picks in 2011 and 2012 – and has very little starting experience. So if you are going to deprive someone of practice reps, who are you going to pick? Your veteran starter Kyle Orton, your first-round pick in Tebow, or a guy who cost you almost nothing in Quinn? Seems like an easy answer.

What I don’t get is why the Broncos traded for Quinn in the first place. I understand they didn’t give up very much for him, but the trade for Tebow in the first round was very calculated. They kept trading back in order to acquire more picks so they could then trade up to select Tebow, so obviously they had a game plan. But what is their strategy now? Orton’s contract expires at the end of the year and Quinn’s expires in 2011. So maybe they’re planning on keeping all three quarterbacks and hoping Tebow emerges as the starter in either 2011 or 2012.

Either way, Josh McDaniels and GM Brian Xanders have created a fine mess for themselves in Denver. They have one average quarterback in Orton, one below average backup in Quinn and one massive project in Tebow. As Robinson points out, if the Broncos hope to develop Tebow then they’ll need to get him reps in practice and that means making him the backup. Which makes Quinn useless.

I know the Broncos are high on Tebow, but I have a feeling that this team will be in the market for a franchise-caliber quarterback sooner than they think.

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Marred in a four game losing streak, the Broncos are starting to take frustrations out on themselves.

According to a report by ESPN.com, receiver Brandon Marshall got into a shouting match with rookie running back Knowshon Moreno, who gave Marshall a two-hand shove to get away from him. Marshall was upset with Moreno after the rookie fumbled at the goal line during Denver’s loss to the Chargers last Sunday.

Moreno, who gave Marshall a two-handed shove to get away, said he didn’t begrudge Marshall for his outburst because everybody is tired of losing.

“We’ve got a lot of emotional players on our team. I’m an emotional person myself,” coach Josh McDaniels said following Denver’s fourth straight loss. “Sometimes that happens. I’m not saying it’s good, as long as people can work things out. Obviously we don’t want to make scenes or problems for ourselves on the sideline. But there are a lot of things that happen on the sideline that involve emotion.”

“I think everybody needs to look at themselves first,” Marshall said. “I’m going to go back and watch film on myself and see what I’m doing wrong, what I changed from last year. How can I help move the ball down the field? Get the ball? I’m going to look at myself first, starting with film from last year, seeing if I changed anything, if my routes aren’t the same, if I’m not catching the ball as well. I’m going to start there.”

It’s no surprise that the Broncos are frustrated considering that a month ago they were 6-0 and seemingly running away with the AFC West. Now they’re in the midst of a four game skid and looking up at San Diego in the division.

Winning is a cure-all, so until Denver starts stockpiling victories again, McDainels is going to have to keep his team focused and together. Thus far, he and his coaching staff haven’t done a very good job of figuring out how to get this team back on the right track and now they’re in quicksand because the losses are piling up.

McDainels and Co. don’t have much time to figure things out. They host the Giants on Thanksgiving Day and another loss could send Denver into a deeper hole than they’re already in.

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