ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have tendered their three exclusive rights free agents, a group led by top tackler Brandon Marshall, who will receive $585,000 in 2015. Tackle Paul Cornick and guard Ben Garland will each receive $510,000.
The Broncos have two more restricted free agents in cornerback Tony Carter and linebacker Steven Johnson, and they must make a decision on them by the start of free agency Tuesday.
Marshall is a fourth-year pro and was a first-time starter last season. He led the Broncos with 110 tackles in 14 games despite missing the final 2 1-2 games with a sprained right foot that also hampered him in the playoffs. He posted 88 solo tackles, two sacks, an interception, nine pass breakups and one forced fumble.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Omaha high school football coach won’t be prosecuted on allegations that he struck his son and a girl last fall.
Former Creighton Prep coach Chris Nizzi’s case was dismissed Thursday. City prosecutor David Smalheiser says Nizzi accepted responsibility for his actions and participated in a comprehensive diversion program.
The 17-year-old girl told police that she and Nizzi’s 16-year-old son were parked near the Nizzi home about 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 when Nizzi arrived home and soon confronted her about hanging out with his son. She told officers that Nizzi used a fist to strike her face. The boy told officers that his father backhanded him.
Nizzi resigned soon after the incident and has since found work at Boys Town.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs released veteran linebacker Joe Mays on Thursday as they attempt to free up much-needed salary cap space before the start of free agency next week.
The Chiefs saved about $3 million by parting with Mays, who started last season on injured reserve and wound up making just 16 tackles in eight games. Mays was expected to start alongside Derrick Johnson, but never seemed to solidify his role.
The Chiefs have made modest savings by releasing Mays along with wide receivers Donnie Avery and A.J. Jenkins and tight end Anthony Fasano. Now, the big question is whether they will carve out more significant salary cap space by trading, releasing or restructuring the massive contracts of wide receiver Dwayne Bowe and linebacker Tamba Hali in the coming days.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Previous Walter Payton Award winner Charles Tillman and four others are finalists for the Byron “Whizzer” White Award given annually by the NFL Players Association for community service in players’ cities and hometowns.
Bears cornerback Tillman, the 2013 Payton recipient as the league’s Man of the Year for his charitable work, is joined by Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt, Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, and Giants linebacker Jameel McClain.
The winner, who will receive $100,000 for his foundation or a charity of his choice, will be announced March 18 at the NFLPA’s annual meetings in Hawaii.
The award is named for Supreme Court Justice Byron Raymond “Whizzer” White, a scholar, athlete, humanitarian and public servant. Each team nominated players.
Last year’s winner was 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin.
In college football, spring comes early. Or at least spring practice comes early.
Practice has already started for many teams around the country and will ramp up just about everywhere else throughout March.
Spring story lines tend to revolve around quarterbacks, coaches and coordinators. Most quarterback competitions won’t get settled until August. New coaches and coordinators will install their systems, but how much progress are they actually making? Who knows?
The intrasquad games and scrimmages that wrap up spring practice will give fans a glimpse of what they have to look forward to (or brace for) come September.
So while acknowledging that spring football often provides few definitive answers, a look at some of the most interesting story lines from around the nation.
QUARTERBACK COMPETITIONS
You might have heard that national champion Ohio State has a lot of good quarterbacks. Well, most of them aren’t going to be fully healthy for spring ball. Two-time Big Ten player of the year Braxton Miller is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Last year’s All-Big Ten quarterback, J.T. Barrett, is still on the mend from a broken ankle. So Cardale Jones, who led the Buckeyes to the Big Ten and national championships in three starts, should get a lot of snaps. The bigger question for the Buckeyes will be who sticks around after spring. Miller has graduated and can transfer without restrictions.
Other intriguing quarterbacks battles:
— Notre Dame: Mistake-prone Everett Golson will try to win the starting job back from Malik Zaire. And if Golson doesn’t, will he take the graduate transfer route?
— Florida State: There is no clear replacement for Jameis Winston. Last season’s backup, Sean Maguire, is the only quarterback on the roster with any experience.
— Baylor: Stud freshman Jarrett Stidham will try to jump past next-in-line junior Seth Russell. Coach Art Briles has had a lot of success plugging in the experienced player.
— LSU: Highly touted Brandon Harris will get another shot to take the starting job away from uninspiring incumbent Anthony Jennings. Tigers fans might want to keep an eye on how things play out with Golson and Miller.
— Oklahoma: That Sugar Bowl victory against Alabama seems like a long time ago for Trevor Knight, who followed up his breakout postseason performance with a mediocre 2014. Texas Tech transfer Baker Mayfield will provide competition, along with redshirt freshman Cody Thomas.
NEW COACHES
Michigan’s first spring under Jim Harbaugh started in February. What should expectations be for the Wolverines? Well, when Harbaugh comes to town the team tends to get better quickly and the Wolverines, despite missing the postseason last season, do have some talent. Two things to watch: A) Can Harbaugh tap into whatever it was that made quarterback Shane Morris a highly touted recruit? B) How large will the crowd be at the Big House on April 4 for the spring game? The faithful in Ann Arbor, Michigan, have not been this excited for a season since before the failed Rich Rodriguez experiment.
There hasn’t been quite the same buzz coming out of Gainesville, Florida, where Jim McElwain is putting his stamp on the Gators. The inability to put a productive offense on the field cost Will Muschamp his job at Florida. The spring game will give Gators fans a taste of what McElwain has up his sleeve and which quarterback — sophomore Treon Harris or freshman Will Grier — is the front-runner to run the show.
In Nebraska, Huskers fans seem to be embracing Mike Riley, who brings an experienced coaching staff and refreshingly friendly personality to Lincoln. Two major stars need to be replaced. Running back Imani Cross gets first crack at the tailback job vacated by Ameer Abdullah’s departure. Defensive end Randy Gregory will be even more difficult to replace. Maybe redshirt freshman Stoltenberg can help fill the void.
Other new coaches to track:
— Wisconsin: Paul Chryst comes home to take over the Badgers.
— Pittsburgh: Fiery former defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi brings the Michigan State formula to Pitt.
— Oregon State: Gary Andersen bailed from Wisconsin after just two seasons to replace Riley and give the Beavers a new look for the first time in a long time.
— American Athletic Conference West Division: The AAC West could be supercharged with three former offensive coordinators stepping into their first head coaching jobs: Chad Morris (formerly of Clemson) at SMU, Tom Herman (formerly of Ohio State) at Houston and Philip Montgomery (formerly of Baylor) at Tulsa.
FIXING THE D
With offenses flourishing, quality defensive coordinators were hot commodities this offseason.
The two hires that drew the most attention were in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn’s Gus Malzahn brought in Muschamp, who, for all his problems at Florida, always had quality defenses.
Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin wanted Muschamp but ended up with a pretty good consolation prize in John Chavis, the former LSU and Tennessee defensive coordinator.
Points are rarely a problem for Sumlin and Malzahn’s teams so fans of the Aggies and Tigers will be happy to see boring spring games dominated by their new-look defenses.
Other new defensive coordinators:
— UCLA: Bruins coach Jim Mora reached across the country to hire Tom Bradley to run his defense. Bradley, the longtime Penn State assistant, spent last season with West Virginia.
— Colorado: Former USF coach Jim Leavitt returns to the college game, given the task of fixing the worst defense in the Pac-12.
— Michigan State: Mark Dantonio stayed in-house to replace Narduzzi, promoting secondary coach Harlon Barnett and linebackers/special-teams coach Mike Tressel to co-defensive coordinators.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Peyton Manning will take a physical and sign his revised contract at Broncos headquarters Thursday, then head home until the Broncos reconvene April 13 for the start of offseason workouts.
Then, it’s time to adapt to new coach Gary Kubiak’s West Coast offense and continue his pursuit of a second Super Bowl trophy.
Weeks of speculation about the five-time MVP’s future ended Wednesday with word that he’s returning for an 18th season in the NFL and fourth in Denver.
A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Manning will take a $4 million pay cut, from $19 million to $15 million, but that he can make it all back through performance incentives. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement of the deal.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press that Peyton Manning will return for a fourth season in Denver and 18th in the NFL.
Manning will reduce his salary from $19 million to $15 million in 2015, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement.
However, he can make up all of the $4 million pay cut by reaching certain performance benchmarks.
Manning will take his physical and sign his revised contract Thursday, then return April 13 for team conditioning.
The five-time MVP mulled retirement after the Broncos’ playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But he determined he still had the health and hunger to keep playing at age 39.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Tommy Armstrong Jr. remains Nebraska’s No. 1 quarterback heading into coach Mike Riley’s first spring practice with the Cornhuskers.
Besides that, the offense is going to look much different as Riley begins installing a pro-style system when practice begins Saturday.
Armstrong said Wednesday he won’t get nearly the number of rushing attempts in the new offense. Armstrong ran 145 times in 2014, mostly on designed runs and zone-read keepers.
Riley said he would divide the team into two groups for spring practices so he can familiarize himself with and better evaluate the players. Coaches will conduct two separate practices each day, with about 60 players on Team Red and 60 on Team White. The spring game is April 11.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have placed their franchise tag on star receiver Demaryius Thomas, guaranteeing him roughly $12.8 million next season and buying them more time to work out a long-term deal.
General manager John Elway used that same tactic before re-signing kicker Matt Prater and left tackle Ryan Clady before training camp in recent years.
Selected 22nd overall in 2010 out of Georgia Tech, Thomas has made the Pro Bowl in each of his three seasons with Peyton Manning at quarterback.
Thomas could always signal his displeasure with the move by waiting to sign the tender and skipping offseason workouts that begin the first week of April. If Thomas doesn’t sign a long-term contract, the Broncos could use the franchise tag on him again next year.
The Kansas City Chiefs have placed the franchise tag on All-Pro pass rusher Justin Houston.
The Chiefs announced the move on Monday, saying in a statement that “it was in the best interest of the club” and it pursues a long-term deal with Houston.
Monday’s move was widely expected given the relatively little progress Kansas City has made with Houston and his representatives on a long-term deal.
The two sides still have until July 15 to negotiate a contract, and it is not certain whether Houston will immediately sign his tender. As an outside linebacker, the one-year deal would earn him about $13.1 million for the upcoming season.
The Chiefs likely will need to make additional moves soon to free up salary cap space.
