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Geregistreerd op: 03 Jun 2018
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Case Keenum is joining his fifth team in five years and the Denver Broncos are turning to their fifth quarterback since Peyton Manning retired 24 months ago.
General manager John Elway called Keenum "a great fit for us" after the sixth-year pro parlayed a breakout year in Minnesota into a two-year Morten Andersen Jersey , $36 million deal with Denver.
"Along with that experience," Elway said, "his leadership and competitiveness are what you look for in a quarterback."
Elway, by the way, isn't done looking at quarterbacks.
Elway and coach Vance Joseph were in Norman, Oklahoma, checking out Baker Mayfield's pro day when free agency opened Wednesday. Then they were headed for Los Angeles to watch Josh Rosen's pro day at UCLA on Thursday.
Also, a person with knowledge of the talks told The Associated Press the Broncos were in negotiations Wednesday to trade QB Trevor Siemian to Minnesota, where the Vikings are pursuing free agent Kirk Cousins to be their starter.
The Broncos were busy when free agency opened, keeping linebacker Todd Davis (three years, $15 million); adding cornerback Tramaine Brock (one year, $4 million); finalizing Aqib Talib's trade to the Los Angeles Rams; and trying to move Siemian, who won the starting QB job in Denver each of the last two years.
Keenum is expected to sign his deal Thursday, giving the 30-year-old journeyman the big payday that's long eluded him and taking the pressure off Elway to use the fifth overall pick in the draft next month on a quarterback.
It's no guarantee Tyrell Williams Jersey , however, that Elway won't still use that pick on a QB.
Besides Mayfield and Rosen, other high-profile fixes for franchises with quarterback quandaries such as Denver's include Wyoming's Josh Allen, USC's Sam Darnold, Louisville's Lamar Jackson and Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph.
Coming off a career-changing season, Keenum was widely considered the second-most attractive veteran QB on the market behind Cousins. And he is a player the Broncos know well because Gary Kubiak, now the Broncos' senior personnel adviser, had him for two seasons while Kubiak was head coach of the Houston Texans.
"Case is perfect for our team, both as a player and as a person," said Joseph, who also worked for the Texans. "He's playing the best football of his career right now and has gotten better with every opportunity he's had. Being around him in Houston, Case is a tremendous person and teammate with strong leadership skills and a terrific work ethic. He'll be great in our locker room."
Keenum, who made $2 million last year, went 11-3 in place of an injured Sam Bradford Terron Armstead Jersey , leading the Vikings to the NFC championship game.
He threw for more than 3,500 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His signature moment was that last-second 61-yard touchdown toss to Stefon Diggs that stunned the Saints 29-24 in the playoffs.
The Broncos haven't been back to the playoffs since Manning retired following Denver's 24-10 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 two years ago.
They've cycled through Mark Sanchez, Siemian, Brock Osweiler and Paxton Lynch, while going a combined 14-18.
The Broncos, coming off a 5-11 season, were considered an early front-runner to land Cousins. Minnesota, however, had a sparkling stadium, new state-of-the-art training facility, stacked roster and coaching stability to offer him, while the Broncos' main magnet was Von Miller.
Even though he issued a public plea for Cousins to join him in Denver, Miller is welcoming Keenum to town .
"Looks/Feels right to me!" Miller said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. "We got what we were looking for! Franchise QB that's the perfect fit for DENVER! @johnelway with the deep 3 pointer! Like always! Leeettttss Goooo!!! @casekeenum7 @casekeenum7 Time for me to hold up my end of the deal now!"
Notes: The Broncos placed second-round tenders on two restricted free agents: C Matt Paradis and OLB Shaq Barrett. They declined to offer a tender to WR Bennie Fowler III.
When Jon Halapio joined the New York Giants' practice squad in 2016, Brett Jones was one of the first guys to welcome him.
Jones had joined the Giants the previous year as a center in trying to make the jump from the CFL to the NFL Steven Nelson Jersey , and he appreciated when some new teammates made him feel welcome.
Why not do the same for Halapio? The two 27-year-old offensive linemen became real good friends and helped each other become better players.
Halapio, a guard at Florida, taught Jones some trade secrets at the spot and Jones taught his buddy how to snap and play center.
A little less than two years later, Jones is fighting to keep the starting center job he manned the final 12 games of last season. And it's Halapio, who is the main competition.
Not only is he the competition, Halapio has been getting most of the first-team snaps in the lineup being put on the field by new coach Pat Shurmur.
Jones isn't worried. It's early in training camp and nothing is set. He also has no regrets about teaching the guy who might take his job.
"It's always been like that in my life," Jones said Monday. "If anybody ever gave me an opportunity I wanted to repay it to them. So that was my thing. Jon was on the practice squad and I was the backup center and if Jon was going to play I wanted to help him out and do what I could. That's what a good teammate does."
Learning to snap was part of the mentoring.
"He had asked me and I sort of gave him the basic training for it," said Jones, who was the CFL's most outstanding lineman in 2014 and missed his first season in the NFL the following year because of a training camp injury. "After practice we would stay and practice snapping. It sort of went from there."
Halapio took the long road to the NFL. He was drafted in the sixth round by New England in 2014. He was on the Broncos' practice squad that season and went to the Cardinals and Patriots training camps in 2015 and '16, respectively, getting cut each time.
The Giants signed him to the practice squad for most of 2016. He was cut in training camp the following season and re-signed to the practice squad. Injuries got him on the active roster in October and he played in 10 games with six starts at guard.
The move to center came this year.
"Everything was new so I had to learn a lot, not only the schemes, but the different techniques and calls," Halapio said. "I had to learn a lot."
The biggest differences are blocking from a balanced stance Cortez Kennedy Jersey , having to make line calls and read coverages and sometimes making the shotgun snaps.
"The more you do it, the better you get," Halapio said. "In the offseason I snapped a bunch, and even now I keep snapping after practice so it's second nature."
Halapio admits fighting Jones for a job felt odd at first.
"It's just pure competition now," Halapio said. "Like coach says all the time, don't read into who's taking the first-team reps. Everyone is being evaluated. As far as me and Brett goes, we're friends. We help each other out in the film room, on the field, outside of football. Nothing is awkward between us. Yeah, it's just pure competition between us and everybody in the room."
The Giants have revamped their offensive line after last year's disastrous 3-13 season. Guard Justin Pugh and center Weston Richburg signed elsewhere as free agents. Guard John Jerry is now a backup fighting for a roster spot.
Patriots free agent Nate Solder was signed to take over at left tackle and 2015 first-rounder Ereck Flowers was moved to right tackle. Second-round draft pick Will Hernandez is the left guard and free agent Patrick Omameh is the right guard.
The center spot is uncertain.
A former center, Shurmur says he is watching the position closely. He wants his centers to be good communicators.
Halapio might be a little stronger than Jones, who probably understands the job better and had 30 NFL games under his belt at guard and center.
It should be an interesting decision for Shurmur.
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