In a move that is seemingly more procedural than anything, the Denver Broncos placed tender designations on their Restricted and Exclusive Rights free agents. Mike Klis of the Denver Post had the tweet below:
Broncos have tendered all their restricted free agents: DT Ryan McBean, WR Matthew Willis; Exclusive right FA: Lance Ball, Chris Clark, Britton Colquitt
— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) March 13, 2012
None of the moves were a surprise, though Ryan McBean is currently suspended for the first 6 games of the 2012 season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.
Below are the definitions of the different types of free agents:
Restricted Free Agent(RFA): A player whose contract has expired and has fewer than four tenured years in the league. He may sign an "Offer Sheet" with any other team, but his original team has seven days to match any offer he receives. If the original team does not match the offer, compensation will be awarded in the form of draft picks from the signing team. The round and quantity of picks are determined by the "Qualifying Offer" made by the player's original team. If a RFA is tendered a minimum qualifying offer the compensation is the equivalent of the round in which that player was originally selected. If that player was originally a rookie free agent, no compensation is awarded.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENT (ERFA): A player whose contract has expired and has three or fewer tenured years in the league. His original team must make a contract offer by the league imposed deadline or the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. No compensation is awarded for losing EFAs.