Ryan Clady says he won't be at Broncos minicamp, discusses contract and injury status

Denver Broncos All Pro left tackle Ryan Clady appeared on the Les and Tom Nalen show on ESPN Radio 102.3 earlier this afternoon, updating Broncos country on his offseason. Here are the details:

Minicamp status

The Denver Broncos report for minicamp Tuesday, but Clady says he won't be there. Clady still has not signed his franchise tender, and so is not under the same NFL mandate to attend minicamp.

Injury status

Furthermore, Clady says he is still rehabilitating the right shoulder he injured at the end of the 2012 regular season, and said he will continue his rehabilitation outside of Denver. Clady underwent shoulder surgery in January after playing through the injury during the Broncos' playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Contract status

The Broncos have until July 15th to sign Clady to a long-term deal. After that point, he may only sign his one-year franchise tender.

The prospect of signing Clady long-term isn't looking good at this point. Clady told Les and Tom that no new contract negotiations have taken place between he and the Broncos this year.

According to Clady, Broncos brass are waiting to see how his shoulder heals.

Update 7:00 p.m. MT - For the first time since July of last year, the Broncos reached out to Clady's agent to begin contract negotiations.

Training camp status (July)

Training camp is another mandatory set of workouts, but if Clady misses those practices in protest of his contract status, he'll be considered a holdout. So if his contract status remains as-is, will he show up for camp?

Clady wouldn't make promises but seemed optimistic about attending.

"I'm not sure right now," said Clady. "That's something I'll decide down the road, but more than likely I'll be there."

My take

I'm not too worried about 2013, assuming Clady shows up for training camp, which I think he will. And he's justified in rehabbing elsewhere; the Broncos aren't doing Clady a lot of good in my book. Clady hasn't missed a start in his five years with Denver; waiting to see about his shoulder injury is just silly. Denver needs to step up and start working on a long-term deal before their perennial Pro Bowl left tackle hits the open market next March.