ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As the NFL season fast approaches, one of the Broncos offensive MVPs from 2016, kicker Brandon McManus, has yet to sign his restricted free agent tender for the 2017 season.
Denver placed a second round tender on McManus in March, which would pay the fourth-year kicker out of Temple $2.476 million for the upcoming season. Linebacker Todd Davis received the same offer and ultimately opted to sign his tender last month
McManus finished the 2016 season with a made field goal percentage of .853, making 29-of-34 attempts on the year, including a perfect 19-of-19 on attempts that were shorter than 40 yards..
Despite remaining unsigned, McManus is prepared to show up to work on a daily basis, while he lets the suits handle the business negotiations.
“Basically I’m coming to work and letting (Agent) Drew (Rosenhaus) and (Executive Vise President of Football Operations/General Manager) John (Elway) and (Director of Football Administration) Mike Sullivan deal with that,” McManus told the media earlier this week. “There is really no rush for me to sign the tender because it could go through June 15. I would love to be here as long as I can and be on a long-term deal here that gives me some security. I love Denver and I love the fan base here. I would love to be here for four years so why not see what I can do?”
McManus has participated in all of the team’s offseason activities to this point and intends to continue working with the team throughout the summer, so Elway and company do not appear to need to worry about a holdout situation.
In fact, the whole reason McManus has yet to sign the short-term deal is he is looking for a contract that allows him to remain with the team longer.
“I wanted to be here,” McManus said. “The contract isn’t about me. I just would love to here a lot longer. I’ve been here every day throughout the whole offseason program. That’s not part of me to hold out in that aspect and not show up. I want the guys to see me. I’m looking forward to being maybe a captain for special teams this year.”
McManus doubled down on this statement, emphasizing how important it is to him to be a leader in the Broncos organization.
“I never was a captain in high school or college, “ McManus said.
“As much as I was a leader on the field, I guess vocally sometimes the kicker position is difficult. I think in the NFL it’s valued a lot more than it is at the other levels. Maybe my consistency over the last couple years (will help). A lot of the top-level guys have a lot of respect for me and ask me a lot of questions for things. Hopefully I’ll be able to get that honor this year. “