ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos have one of the longer lists of soon-to-be free agents in the league. So two weeks out from the formal opening of the NFL's festival of checks, it's a good time to take a one-a-day look at some of the impending, high-profile Broncos free agents.
Wednesday: Demaryius Thomas
Thursday: Julius Thomas
Bottom line, straight from the Broncos' chief football decision-maker, is Demaryius Thomas isn't going anywhere. It's just a matter of details.
The Broncos' No. 1 option in the passing game is also their top priority in free agency. Broncos executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway couldn't have been any clearer this past week at the NFL's scouting combine.
The Broncos want, and will work toward, a long-term deal with Thomas. If they can't get it done over the next week the Broncos will place the franchise player tag on Thomas to give them more time to get it done.
"Our goal is to get something done with Demaryius," Elway said. " ... that market is changing, that wide receiver market is changing, too, but the bottom line is we want Demaryius to be a Bronco."
The Broncos and Thomas' representatives have had the framework of a five-year deal on the table at times over the past year. Elway said he believes most of the team's free agents, even if they did return, want to see what the market was for them after the formal opening of free agency. The team is of a similar mind at the moment: Just as the players don't want to leave potential income on the table, the team doesn't want to pay more than it believes it has to.
In Thomas' case, the Broncos would have to use the franchise player tag by March 2. The most likely scenario is the Broncos use the franchise player tag on Thomas -- a one-year, guaranteed deal for something on the order of $12.9 million (the franchise tag is the average of the top five salaries at the position) -- and then continue to work toward a long-term deal.
It would also give Thomas and his representatives a chance to see if any contracts signed by wide receivers in the opening days of free agency help dial in the numbers for both sides a little better.
"Really the bottom line is until the market opens, until you get out there and see what's out there, that's what sets the price," Elway said. "That's why it's very difficult for them to accept something before the free agency starts and very difficult for us -- we don't know what the market is."
Since the start of the 2011 season, Thomas is second in the NFL with 28 100-yard receiving games in the regular season and postseason combined, including 10 100-yard games this past season. Seven of those came in consecutive weeks.
His 226 yards in the Broncos' Oct. 5 win over the Arizona Cardinals are a franchise record for a game, and his 1,619 yards receiving this past season also set a season franchise record. He has had three consecutive seasons of at least 92 catches, at least 1,400 yards and at least 10 touchdowns.