Broncos Blog: Broncos Day 4 - Training Camp, Signings and hopefully Trades

First day of Training camp begins and all rookies are now signed. Lets check out the news...

According to the Arizona Republic, the Cardinals identified Kevin Kolb as their quarterback priority due to concerns about Kyle Orton on third downs and in the red zone. Orton finished at the bottom of the pack in passer rating in both situations, usually a sign of poor arm strength and questionable decision-making. The Cardinals believe Orton has proven to be a mediocre starter, more of a place-holder than a solution. It's quite possible that Kevin Kolb will have similar issues of his own.

Broncos signed No. 45 overall pick S Rahim Moore to a four-year contract.

Broncos signed No. 108 overall pick Quinton Carter to a four-year, $2.49 million contract. Carter is coming off an All-America selection after a fantastic season at Oklahoma. More of a long-term NFL prospect, he'll likely start out on special teams behind veterans Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill.

Broncos agreed to terms with No. 2 overall pick OLB Von Miller on a four-year, $21 million contract. The rookie salary system has taken all of the drama out of the early first-round signings. The good news is that prolonged holdouts will soon be vestigial -- even the notoriously slow moving Bengals have their top pick in the bag. Widely considered the most explosive edge rusher in the draft, Miller is expected to step right into the starting strong-side job in coach John Fox's defense.

The Rams have begun talks with free agent DT Justin Bannan. The Rams and Broncos appear to be in on the same defensive tackles. St. Louis isn't considered a serious contender for Brandon Mebane, so Bannan could be a fallback option.

According to ESPN's John Clayton, a Kyle Orton "won't happen" until the Broncos get a better offer. "That could still happen," says Clayton, "but they will keep him for now." The Broncos are trying salvage decent value for Orton when it's widely believed they could end up releasing him and going with Tim Tebow as the starter. We'll find out if the Dolphins have legitimate interest in Vince Young after all.

The Miami Herald suggests the Kyle Orton "stare-down" could last until August 4, when teams must get under the salary cap. The Dolphins know that the market for Orton has dried up, eliminating all of the Broncos' leverage. So Denver goes out and makes Orton the first-team quarterback Thursday, a likely bluff to get Miami to blink. The Dolphins reportedly have some restructuring of their own to do before bringing in Orton, so this is going to take a little time. We still think he'll end up Miami and Tim Tebow will be Denver's starter.

Update: Eagles agreed to terms with QB Vince Young on a one-year contract. The Dolphins have reportedly touched base with free agent Matt Moore as a fallback option in case the Broncos don't come around on Kyle Orton. To me it looks like the Broncos wanted to much for Orton, say a second. Dolphins said well we can get Young. Young now has signed with the Eagles. The Dolphins still trying to cover they buff have looked at Moore. But Moore is a big down grade over Orton. Expect the two sides to agree on a trade. I still say a 3rd that esclates to a 2nd (say if Orton throws 4000 yards) would be good.

Kyle Orton was the first-team quarterback as the Broncos opened training camp practice on Thursday. Tim Tebow, the Broncos' likely Week 1starter, was second string. Brady Quinn worked with the threes and undrafted rookie Adam Weber was on the fourth team. The Broncos are still in trade talks about Orton, so it's surprising that they let him practice. If Orton blew out an ACL and needed to go on injured reserve, all of his nearly $9M in salary and bonuses would be guaranteed.

Broncos FS Renaldo Hill was not present as the team began training camp practices on Thursday. The beat writers believe Hill has been released. It's also possible that the Broncos gave him permission to seek a trade, although that would result in Hill's eventual release as well. The 32-year-old is due a $2.4 million base salary this season. The Broncos plucked two promising safeties in the draft.

Broncos signed No. 67 overall pick Nate Irving to a four-year contract. Working in Irving's favor is his athleticism and the weakness in the middle of the Broncos' defense. Working against him is John Fox's age-old refusal to start rookies. Fox did do it with Jon Beason in Carolina, which makes us think he may move Irving along quickly as well. The former North Carolina State star and Bill Parcells favorite will battle veteran Joe Mays.

Broncos signed No. 46 overall pick RT Orlando Franklin to a four-year, $4.35 million contract. The Broncos love Franklin's potential as a mauling run blocker, but he's considered a work in progress in pass protection. That could be a rookie-season issue as he guards Tim Tebow's blindside.

ESPN's John Clayton reports that the Broncos are holding out for a second- or third-round pick in a Kyle Orton trade. Clayton suggested the Dolphins have yet to meet that demand, instead offering a "four or a five." The Fins have blown so many second-round draft picks on quarterbacks in recent years (Pat White, John Beck, Chad Henne) that we're a bit surprised they wouldn't want to shore up the QB spot with a top-15 NFL passer like Orton. They're also working on a Reggie Bush deal, of course.

He said his current expectation is to be the Broncos’ starter. “I expect to be here,” Orton said. “I expect to be the starter here and go out there and play the best football of my career.”

Mays is the starting MLB....for now. - DenverPost.com

Heap of photos from the first practice, click here.

Quinn also had the first day's best line. Asked if there was any tension between Orton and Tebow, Quinn said: "Look, if you're going to ask questions about football, ask questions about football. I'm not here to talk about anyone's relationship status. Save that for Twitter or Facebook or some message board."

Orton looks better than Tebow in practice, well who would have thought, he is a veteran of 4 season and Tebow a few games. Lets see what happens in August (if Orton is still here).

The Broncos will host DL Jason Hatcher for a free agent visit on Friday. The Cowboys already lost Stephen Bowen to the division rival Redskins, and they're in danger of missing out on Hatcher, too. Dallas' third free agent defensive end, Marcus Spears, is drawing scant interest on the market. It appears the Cowboys' pursuit of Cullen Jenkins is costing them players. In Denver, the 6-foot-6, 311-pound Hatcher would likely move to tackle.

Klis confirms that DT Derek Landri will be visiting the Broncos tomorrow.

How are these for classic Bill Belichick moves? This morning, he traded a fifth-rounder for Albert Haynesworth, and now he's dealt a late 2012 pick and a late 2013 pick for Chad Johnson.

Sacco says the Irving deal is not quite done yet, and why wasn't Rahim Moore already in town?!

Renaldo Hill, wasn’t at practice today. Head Coach John Fox said after the session that Hill was absent due to dehydration. Demaryius Thomas walked onto the field late in the session, posting up on the sideline as he watched his teammates run through practice. He posted on Twitter this morning that it’s “time to get work in…mentally.“

"The last drill of practice had Assistant Special Teams Coach Keith Burns bouncing a soccer ball near the goal line. One player’s job was to leap in the air and tip the ball without stepping into the end zone, and another had to field it inside the 5-yard line and avoid a touchback. That created plenty of laughs, and a light-hearted argument from Perrish Cox when it was ruled he stepped on the line. “I wasn’t in!” he protested."..... :P

Robert Ayers was back to wearing No. 56 in the afternoon session. He was wearing 91 in the morning session, but Fields (A former player) took expectation to this. When Fields is officially released Ayers will get his number. I was wrong, as per DP.com, Ayers said Thursday evening that the folks at Reebok told him that he would have to pay a large amount of money to switch numbers now because of remaining inventory of his No. 56 jerseys. Ayers said Reebok told him one figure yesterday, a number he was OK with, and then a different — and much larger — figure Thursday afternoon. Ayers is hoping to work out a deal with Reebok that will allow him to make the switch to No. 91 — the number he wore in college — this year. Worst case, he makes the switch in 2012, when the league makes the switch to Nike apparel.