The Denver Broncos have a lot of checks to write in the offseason. Some of their biggest stars are set to become free agents and if they want to maintain a high-flying offense, a number of players will need to be retained. The way things pan out, the Broncos have their two biggest offensive threats with expiring contracts and it can be assumed that quarterback Peyton Manning would like them to stick around. Demaryius Thomas is hinting he might be willing to help out with a hometown discount.
Thomas is currently one of the best receivers for the Broncos right now alongside Julius Thomas and both have expiring contracts to their names. The Denver Broncos attempted to negotiate contract extensions in the offseason, but discussions went nowhere and resulted in everything coming to a halt at the start of the season. Team vice president John Elway has said that Denver fully intends to keep both players around with long-term deals, but did not want negotiations to turn into distractions.
Thomas went on NFL Network's NFL Total Access and hinted that if the Broncos needed him to take a hometown discount in order to keep a number of players around, he would consider it.
"Of course, why not?" Thomas said, via NFL.com. "Peyton is one of the best in the game, and I've been blessed to have him as my quarterback. I learned so much from him. Denver, of course I gotta take my hats off to them, because they took a chance of drafting me in the first round."
Thomas has the resume to command big money this offseason. He is preparing to become just the third receiver in NFL history to have three straight seasons of 1,450 yards and 10 touchdowns. Jerry Rice and Marvin Harrison are the only other two players to do so. He has everything needed to command a top-dollar deal with a number of years on it. His agent will certainly push for that understanding the leverage the receiver has. Thomas should be careful with how much he hints at a contract discount because if he goes back on his word and draws the negotiations out, fans will not be thrilled.
The Broncos have options in order to keep everyone around. The team could opt to give Julius Thomas the franchise tag while Demaryius gets the long-term deal. That would help the team's salary cap space, it just means that Julius must wait another year to get his money. The odd man out will likely be Wes Welker who will also be a free agent. If his contracts demands are too high, the Broncos will not put up a fight to bring him back.
