The Denver Broncos have CJ Anderson as the starter for Peyton Manning and Ronnie Hillman has been elevated to second string for now and it comes as the team has added Evan Mathis on a free agent deal, while Emmanuel Sanders is dealing with a hamstring injury and has not played in the preseason.
The Broncos are coming into the season with high expectations once again and Manning now has some extra protection on the offensive line. According to ESPN.com, Mathis signed a one year deal with the Broncos and that contract is for $4 million if Mathis meets certain "playing-time incentives." The base salary for the deal has $2.5 million, according to Adam Schefter. The Broncos have dealt with some injuries on the offensive line and now Mathis can help give the team some veteran help.
The Broncos offense should be potent again with Demaryius Thomas back on a contract extension, but Emmanuel Sanders has been out of action as of late. According to the Denver Post, Sanders will not play in the next preseason game for the Broncos and there is a chance he will not play at all for the rest of the preseason after dealing with a hamstring injury. Sanders has not practiced in a couple weeks and he could be healthy in time for the Week 1 game to open the season.
The running game is expected to be a big factor for the Broncos this season and it looks like CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman will open as the top two backs on the depth chart. Anderson had a strong season last year and has had a good summer and he likely will be the starter for Denver. The Denver Post reports that Hillman has been playing well and coach Gary Kubiak said he should get "more reps" and could be the "1B option" past Anderson over Montee Ball.
Mathis had been on the free agent market for quite some time and he signed with the Broncos because he said he "wanted to play for a contender." Mathis has been rated as one of the top guards in the NFL by Pro Football Focus and now he likely will start out the gate for the Broncos. Mathis was set to make $5.5 million from the Eagles this season, but he was released and now he has a chance to protect Peyton Manning.
The Broncos already lost Ryan Clady and that shuffled the offensive line and now that Mathis is in, it likely means Max Garcia will be a backup. The rest of the offensive line has Louis Vasquez, Chris Clark, Matt Paradis and Ty Sambrailo and the Broncos hope that Mathis can stay healthy all season. The Dolphins also had interest in Mathis, but the team was not willing to pay what the Broncos were. NBC Denver reports that Mathis said he is "confident" that he will be ready to start Week 1 of the season. Mathis missed seven games last season with an MCL issue and he had not missed a game for the Eagles since 2011.
Check here for more on the Denver Broncos, Mathis and Emmanuel Sanders and his status.
