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What a mess. I went from excitement to confusion and anger in minutes. The "He said, She said" game has already played out, and is getting tiresome. It's time for both sides to move on. Now with Dumervil being released, it leaves a big hole at the DE spot. Here's the Free Agents left on the market who could replace Dumervil.
- Dwight Freeney
Freeney has been widely viewed as the backup plan if they released Dumervil. Freeney spent the day visiting the New England Patriots. So the Broncos do have competition for Freeney. The Patriots did sign John Abraham, so they might be out of the DE market, but they have already showed interest in Dumervil. Freeney who is entering his 12th year in the NFL has totaled 107.5 sacks, and 258 tackles. He would be a drop off in talent and is 33 years old, but would give the Broncos a pass rusher.
- Osi Umenyiora
The guy I'd like to see replace Elvis Dumervil is Osi Umenyiora. Osi is 31 years old and is comg off a 6 sack campaign for the New York Giants. Osi is entering his 11th year in the NFL and has totaled 75 sacks in his career. Osi has yet to generate any interest from any teams, so the Broncos shouldn't have too much of a competition to acquire his services. Osi would give the Broncos a veteran pass rusher who still has a good year or two of solid play left.
- Shaun Phillips
Adam Schefter tweeted earlier this week that the Broncos would also look into former Chargers OLB/DE Shaun Phillips as a potential backup plan for Dumervil. Phillips who is entering his 11th year in the league has racked up 69.5 sacks. Phillips just turned 31 and figures to have a couple productive years left in him, but is he a 4-3 end? or strictly a 3-4 OLB? I think he could be a decent addition.
- The Draft
If the Broncos do not re-sign Dumervil look for a DE selected early, even if they sign a veteran from above. I personally consider DE a need with Dumervil on the team, but if he leaves, it jump atop of the Broncos needs. Some names that could be available for the Broncos in the first round are Tank Carradine, Datone Jones, Damontre Moore, Alex Okafor, and Sam Montgomery.
- Elvis Dumervil
Lets hope this whole Fax Machine Snafu is old news by the end of the weekend, and we have Elvis Dumervil in orange and blue. They have already worked out a contract, why can they not do it again? I'm not a cap guy, but I do know Dumervil's cap hit hurt the Broncos some, so the Broncos might have to get creative to create enough space to get Dumervil what he wants. The Broncos could also make a few cuts/restructuring to create space too (Joe Mays, Chris Kuper). Also, Mike Klis is reporting tonight that...
In the meantime, Dumervil is a free agent, and Magid said his cell phone "has been blowing up" by calls from interested teams. However, two sources close to the situation said Dumervil wants to get his paperwork fiasco fixed and return to the Broncos.The Broncos were collectively angered by the turn of events Friday afternoon, but after a cooling off period, the team could re-sign Dumervil as soon as Saturday.
So there's that bit of good news. So lets hope this is all forgotten and we do get Doom back..
Go Broncos!