The Denver Broncos found themselves in a hard place this offseason as both Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas were in need of new contracts. Unable to sign both to long-term contracts, the end result was losing Julius to the Jacksonville Jaguars and hitting Demaryius with the franchise. That was not the most ideal outcome for the franchise, but team president John Elway believes getting Thomas under a new deal before the deadline is possible.
The Broncos had Peyton Manning take a paycut this offseason in order to help the team improve in free agency. With those signings wrapped up, getting Thomas under a new deal remains an option. Thomas is set to earn $12.823 million this upcoming season on a one-year deal, but Elway does not believe that means Thomas is destined to leave at some point.
"We're going to continue to work with DT and his agent to hopefully get something done for a long-term solution for him," Elway said, via the team website. "We'd like him to remain a Denver Bronco, and that's one of our goals, to be able to get that done. I'm trying to get together with his agent, and hopefully we can do that. We'll continue to work diligently on trying to get something done."
The deadline to get Thomas under a new contract is July 15 and the team has made no indications of whether contract talks are ongoing. Entering a rebuilding year with new head coach Gary Kubiak, the Broncos would be wise to keep Thomas happy as pressure is one the wide receiver along with Emmanuel Sanders to step up in the absence of Wes Welker and Julius Thomas.
Pressure is also on Cody Latimer to step up in his next season with Denver. After not signing any wide receivers in free agency, the Broncos made it clear that Latimer would come in as the No. 3 receiver instead of bringing someone like Welker back. Latimer has plenty of expectations on him in 2015.
"I think it's time for him to make a big jump," Kubiak said, via The Denver Post. "Not just a little jump. Obviously his play time is fixing to pick up, and it needs to pick up, so we need him to make a big jump in year two. We really, really liked him. He has a lot of ability. Usually a player like that is going to make his biggest jump from year one to year two."
