Professor

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_3799994

Details hold up Walker contract
The key to the $43 million deal reportedly is a bonus payout, up to $16 million, for the ex-Packers star
By Mike Klis

All those contractual safeguards must take longer to decipher than the Broncos and Javon Walker expected.

Having agreed in principle last week on a six-year contract worth around $43 million, the Broncos and the receiver did not finalize the deal as expected Monday as the two continued to pore over contract language that has become especially crucial considering Walker's recovery from major knee surgery.

Once the deal is done, the Broncos could have a win-win situation.

Should Walker, 27, regain his 2004 Pro Bowl form, the Broncos would make him the third-highest paid receiver in the game. But if Walker struggles to overcome the knee injury that forced him to miss all but 2 1/2 quarters of the 2005 season, the Broncos would have a chance to minimize their financial investment.

According to a league source, Walker, acquired April 29 for a second-round draft pick, will get the $1.15 million base salary he had remaining from the contract he originally signed with the Green Bay Packers, then a five-year, $42 million extension from the Broncos. Included in the extension is a $1 million roster bonus the Broncos inherited from the Packers.

The key to the deal is the bonus payout, which according to the source is between $15 million and $16 million. Multiple websites have reported Monday the bonuses would be paid out as club options - most in 2007, the rest in 2008.

Option bonuses are usually not guaranteed, although they can trigger salary promises.

Know this: The Broncos didn't give up a second-round pick with the idea

Professor

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...684464,00.html

Walker gets extension
Deal with Broncos for $40 million will start in 2007 season

By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News
May 9, 2006
The Denver Broncos were aggressive for months in their pursuit of Javon Walker.

They've now gone to even greater lengths to make sure the receiver they acquired in a trade April 29 sticks around for the long haul and is happy in his new uniform.

The team reached an agreement in principle Monday on a five-year contract extension that will pay Walker about $40 million, including $15 million in option bonuses in 2007-08.

Walker will play out 2006 making the remaining $1.15 million in base salary he had been scheduled to earn under terms of his rookie contract with the Green Bay Packers but will receive an added $1 million roster bonus from the Broncos.

"We're ecstatic," Walker's agent, Kennard McGuire, said shortly after the deal was finalized. "And it's more from a standpoint that we're playing for someone we're excited playing for. He's coming to an organization that's accustomed to winning and playing for a coach many people consider one of the most brilliant minds in the game. You put all those things together and you can't ask for a better situation."

Walker, 27, officially will sign Wednesday, then begin taking part in the Broncos' off-season conditioning program.

It remains unclear whether the receiver, who missed most of last season because of a torn right knee ligament after making the Pro Bowl in the 2004 season, will take part in the Broncos' passing camp that begins next week. It's more likely they'll be cautious.

Yet the Broncos seemingly have few reservations about Walker's health in the long term.

According to McGuire, no clauses were inserted into the contract as protection against a future issue with the knee. Walker has been training recently in Arizona.

"This was a player they wanted and they did everything they could do to procure him," McGuire said. "My perception is that they consider him an elite receiver, among the top three or four. And it shows in the contract."

Walker has played in 48 games, starting 18. He has 157 catches for 2,444 yards and 22 touchdowns during his four seasons, with most coming two seasons ago. Walker had 89 catches, 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns, all career-bests, in his lone Pro Bowl season.

TRY, TRY AGAIN: Disgruntled receiver Ashley Lelie has new middlemen to mediate on his behalf in his efforts to exit the Broncos.

Lelie has hired Denver agents Peter Schaffer and Lamont Smith. The move became official Sunday after a five-day waiting period after the firing of the wideout's prior representation.

Schaffer said a strategy hasn't completely been mapped out for Lelie. But, he added, it has been his experience with past Broncos players the team will deal with the situation fairly.

There's little leverage on Lelie's side to force the issue because he is under contract for 2006. The team has said it expects the receiver to honor his contract.

"We as a firm are honored to be retained by someone of Ashley's principle and character and plan on having discussions with the Broncos at a mutually convenient time in the near future to see where this matter goes," Schaffer said.

Lelie repeatedly has stated he feels he's being treated unfairly from a competitive standpoint given Walker's lucrative new deal and Rod Smith's solid standing as the team's No. 1 wideout. Lelie has vowed a long-term holdout into the regular season if he's not dealt because he wants a chance to be a top target elsewhere.

MONEY TALK: The Broncos have been allotted a rookie-pool figure of $3,853,000 to sign their seven-person class plus post-draft street free agents.

Most of the salary-cap outlay figures to be used on top pick Jay Cutler, a former Vanderbilt quarterback.

Demarcus Ware was selected in Cutler's No. 11 slot in 2005 by the Dallas Cowboys and was given $10 million in guaranteed money payable during the first two seasons on a deal that ostensibly lasted five years for $13 million because of an easily attainable void of the sixth year.

Rookie contracts in the top half of the first round are limited to a maximum six years under terms of the new collective-bargaining agreement.

The Broncos traded a third-round pick to nab Cutler and a second- round choice in the deal for Walker, giving the team one other first-day pick, tight end Tony Scheffler of Central Michigan.

One complication for teams signing rookies is the minimum salary has jumped to $275,000, a nearly 20 percent hike, while the rookie-pool outlays have been relatively flat.

LET'S DO LUNCH: John Lynch and his wife, Linda, will host a luncheon Wednesday at Invesco Field at Mile High to honor Denver's top prep student-athletes. Rod Smith will be keynote speaker and Jake Plummer and several other Broncos are scheduled to to be in attendance.

J-Unit

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/DEN/9428450

DENVER (May 9, 2006) -- Javon Walker is set to sign a five-year extension with the Denver Broncos, who acquired the wide receiver in a draft-day deal.

"We do have a deal in place," Walker's agent, Kennard McGuire, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"I can't give you details," McGuire added, other than to confirm the extension was worth between $40 million and $42 million.

The Broncos have a policy of not discussing financial terms of contracts.

Walker, who is still recovering from a major knee injury he sustained in last year's season opener, is expected to sign the pact May 10. The extension will take him through 2011.

Walker, 27, is due to make $1.15 million next season and a $1 million roster bonus, part of the five-year, $7.485 million rookie contract that he signed in Green Bay after joining the Packers as a first-round draft pick out of Florida State in 2002.

Walker began seeking a bigger paycheck more than a year ago after he made the Pro Bowl following the 2004 season, when caught 89 passes for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. He hired agent Drew Rosenhaus, who said there was no way Walker could risk injury playing for slightly more than $500,000 in 2005.

Walker's summer-long threats to hold out drew the ire of quarterback Brett Favre, who said Walker should live up to his contract, which at the time had two years remaining.

Surprisingly, Walker reversed course and reported to training camp without any assurances from the Packers that they would re-negotiate his contract. Then, in the season opener at Detroit he tore a ligament in his right knee that sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

Walker fired Rosenhaus and hired McGuire, then announced in the offseason that he'd rather retire than play again for the Packers. General manager Ted Thompson gave Walker permission to talk to other teams and the Broncos met with him on the eve of the draft, when they determined his recovery was going well and that they could meet his contract demands.

They agreed on the parameters of a five-year extension and sent the Packers a second-round pick on April 29.

If Walker can return to his pre-injury form, he would become the Broncos' best playmaker and give them a deep threat opposite Rod Smith to open up the offense.

Walker, who has been working out in Arizona, will continue his rehab in Denver, where he'll take a crash course in the playbook but won't likely do any field work until late July.

"The target is to have him ready once we go to camp," coach Mike Shanahan said during the draft. "He is still recovering from his ACL, and I don't want to push him along too quick. He went through all the physicals with our trainers and doctors and he should be ready to go full-speed by the time we start camp."

Professor

Junit, since I already posted the article in the thread about walker, I just merged your thread into this one.

J-Unit

My fault, didnt notice you had already posted on Javon.

Professor

its all good the thread was about the contract being held up, you didn't know that I posted the finalized contract, (unless you read them, LOL)

Z-Unit07

i think that jevon walker will b a good solid wide out for the broncos. he wont b the number 1 reciever as long as rod smith is still there, but he he stays healthy he will b a big part of the broncos offense, and will b able to produce good numbers this year.