Tag: Denver Broncos (Page 35 of 56)

Shanahan to return to coaching in 2010?

Former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan recently indicated that he plans to coach again in the NFL, possibly even as soon as 2010.

“It’s just something that my gut didn’t feel right,” the former Denver Broncos coach said after participating in the American Century Championship Celebrity Golf Tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Club. “I probably needed a little time to get away, especially with the way the situation wound up in Denver. I’m glad I did.”

The Broncos surprisingly fired Shanahan in December after the team failed to make the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Shanahan won two Super Bowls in 14 seasons as the Broncos’ coach and wielded significant power over most football decisions.

Shanahan was replaced by first-time head coach Josh McDaniels, who was the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator. The stability that the Broncos had with Shanahan has been turned upside down by the new regime. There have been numerous changes, the most notable being the trade of Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears for quarterback Kyle Orton and draft picks.

“I don’t think it’s my place to go into detail, but you’ve got to, like with Josh, he’s got to go with his gut feeling with what he thinks is best for the organization,” Shanahan said. “I’m a big Jay Cutler fan. I like Jay. He’s got the intangibles. He hasn’t gotten it done yet, but you’ve got to have a whole football team. It’s not just one position. Josh is probably biting at the bit to get started with Chris Simms and Kyle Orton. Hopefully they can go out and get the job done for Denver.”

Even though “Skeletor” was public enemy No. 1 for fantasy football owners, Shanahan has always been incredibly classy and he deserves another shot to coach. Taking the year off to reflect is probably a good thing, but there is going to be job openings next year – there always are in the NFL.

Too bad he wanted nothing to do with the Lions, because I could have seen him taking full control and turning that sinking franchise around. Even though he had his ups and downs as a GM, there’s no question Shanahan is an outstanding coach and would bring a lot to an organization. It’ll be interesting to see where he winds up.

Do Broncos players have trust issues with McDaniels?

According to NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes, some Broncos players have trust issues with their new head coach Josh McDaniels.

Jay Cutler isn’t the only player who has developed trust issues with first-year Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. A few other players have privately expressed concern, and the media has joined the chorus in feeling that McDaniels has a problem with honesty.

Some would say this is no big deal, but trust is the cornerstone of this society. We need to be able to trust our government. Trust is essential to marriage and relationships. We need to be able to trust our children. We need to be able to trust our friends.

As a former NFL player, I can tell you that trust is the foundation between the player and the coach. When players trust their coach, they play at another level. Unfortunately, truthfulness seems to be a character trait that Bill Belichick didn’t pass down to young McDaniels.

Thanks for the life lesson Jamie – I’ll certainly store that information in my back pocket and break it out from time to time.

As part of his blog entry, Dukes uses the Brandon Marshall situation as another example of how some of the players don’t trust McDaniels. And maybe secretly they don’t trust their new head coach – after all, he didn’t handle the situation with Cutler appropriately and he does seem to have that Belichick air of secrecy in the way he goes about things.

But Dukes doesn’t tell us anything new here. He recaps the Cutler and Marshall situations and then uses the “I was a former player, so I should know” reasoning to state his opinion. And anyone that watches Dukes on the NFL Network knows that this guy brings nothing to the table as a journalist. So when he comes out with a story like this, it’s important to take it with a grain of salt.

Again, I’m not saying that he’s wrong, but I question the fact that he was so general when he said that, “a few other players have privately expressed concern,” and then goes on to mention only the names everyone else already knows about. If other players did express concern to Dukes about McDaniels, he could have printed what they said without using their names. But instead, he used a blanket statement and moved on without providing much detail.

Broncos’ Marshall says he’ll be in camp

If you thought Brandon Marshall would give up $14,000 a day just because he’s a little ticked off at the Broncos well then you, my friend, are sadly mistaken. The disgruntled receiver said that he would be in attendance when the Broncos open training camp on July 27.

“It’s $14,000 a day if I miss. So I will be there. I’m not stupid.”

The last line in his comment is up for debate seeing as how he’s been in no less than eight off field incidents involving authorities since 2004, including situations involving domestic violence, DUIs and misdemeanor battery charges. He might not be stupid, but he’s a long ways away from being intelligent.

That said, at least this ends the debate of whether or not Marshall will be in camp come the end of the month. While his reasons (money, money, money, money, money – MON-AY!) for being in camp are completely self-absorbed, so were his reasons for potentially holding out too. He’s upset that he’s still playing on his rookie contract and while he is underpaid given his production to this point in his career, who could blame Denver for not wanting to pony up for a guy who could wind up in jail at any given time during the day?

Chances are, Marshall is going to make things messy for the Broncos in camp. He’ll openly bitch about his contract and his desire to be traded, and then the front office will have to decide whether or not to keep the distraction around, or try and trade him for some decent compensation. Either way, just because Marshall is reporting to camp, doesn’t mean that this situation has been resolved.

Broncos willing to field calls for Marshall?

Despite a report earlier this week that stated they would stand firm and not deal the disgruntled receiver, Adam Schefter writes on his Twitter page that the Broncos are willing to field calls for Brandon Marshall.

Though Denver does not want to trade Brandon Marshall, it will take calls. Won’t make them, but will take them. A 1 gets BM is my guess.

Schefter is usually solid in his reporting, so there’s no reason not to buy into what he’s saying. But that said, is this really news worthy? Even if the Broncos do plan on taking a stand and not dealing Marshall, they still would benefit from picking up the phone and listening to any offers. It’s not like if the Ravens called and offered two first round picks (not that they would) that the Broncos wouldn’t entertain the thought.

What will probably happen is that Denver will wait to see if Marshall reports to training camp in a few weeks. If he does, great – they can go about resolving the issue in-house. But if he doesn’t show, and there’s good reason to believe that he won’t, then the Broncos have to entertain the idea of trying to get something for him since he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2009 season. (Especially considering that it is getting more obvious that he wants out of Denver at any cost.)

Keyshawn Johnson rips Brandon Marshall, Anquan Boldin

Never one to pass on the opportunity to speak his mind, Keyshawn Johnson ripped Brandon Marshall and Anquan Boldin in a recent article by SI.com’s Don Banks.

“Brandon Marshall, what have you ever done?” Johnson said. “You went to one Pro Bowl, maybe two. You caught a bunch of balls because they threw them to you. Have you even won a playoff game yet? Guys like me and Michael Irvin, we all won rings. Win a ring first and then talk that way.

“He says he doesn’t want to play in Denver because he doesn’t have a quarterback now that Jay Cutler is in Chicago. Please. When I was with the Jets, our starting quarterbacks were Ray Lucas, Frank Reich, Neil O’Donnell, Glenn Foley, Rick Mirer and Vinny Testaverde. And he’s complaining about having to play with Kyle Orton? You should worry about making your quarterback better.”

Johnson serves as an ESPN analyst during the NFL season, and this offseason has been devoting his energies to his new show about decorating on the A&E network: Tackling Design. His opinions apparently never get rusty, no matter what time of year it is.

“I keep seeing where Anquan Boldin wants to be traded from Arizona, or he wants to be paid like Larry Fitzgerald,” Johnson said. “Anquan, you’re a glorified T.J. Houshmandzadeh, so cut it out. They’re the same player. You want $11 million? Why don’t you take the $8 million they’re offering and be happy? You’re not Larry Fitzgerald.”

Not that I disagree with him, but I love how Key essentially takes a dump on his former Jet quarterbacks while hammering Marshall. If I’m Ray Lucas, I’m thinking to myself, “Hey, thanks Keyshawn – and sorry I was such an inconvenience for you during your playing days.”

I see what Johnson’s getting at, but I don’t think it’s fair to call Boldin and Houshmandzadeh the same player. They’re both incredibly productive, but Boldin is a few years younger and therefore might command more money. Now, is he worth $3 million more than Housh? Probably not, but $9.5 mil a year would be incredibly fair for Boldin’s services in my opinion.

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