March 2016 - Denver Broncos Wiretap

Report: Peyton Manning To Announce Retirement

Feb 29, 2016 2:17 PM

Peyton Manning will announce his retirement by the end of the week, according to two sources.

Manning will turn 40 on March 24th.

The Denver Broncos would like to move on from Manning and it's implausible for him to sign with another team for one season.

Woody Paige/Denver Post

Tags: Denver Broncos, Misc Rumor

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Von Miller Unlikely To Reach Long-Term Deal With Broncos By Deadline

Feb 29, 2016 12:25 PM

Von Miller is not expected to reach a long-term deal with the Denver Broncos before Tuesday's deadline for teams to use franchise tags.

If no deal is reached, Miller would get the Broncos' franchise tag.

The Broncos and representatives for Miller have been trying to negotiate a long-term deal. Executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway met with Miller's agent, Joby Branion, on Friday at the combine.

Adam Schefter/ESPN

Tags: Denver Broncos, Free Agent Rumor, Misc Rumor

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Chiefs, Eagles, Broncos Considered Top Spots For Robert Griffin

Feb 24, 2016 8:55 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are considered the top potential landing spots for Robert Griffin III.

Washington will release Griffin before March 9th.

"I'll give you two big options right off the top," Ian Rapoport said on NFL Network. "The Kansas City Chiefs, who have Andy Reid, who has propped up quarterbacks for years. (Griffin) can learn to throw from the pocket under that system. Another potential name: the Philadelphia Eagles with one of Reid's disciples, Doug Pederson. They're looking for some quarterback depth there, especially if they don't re-sign Sam Bradford."

The Denver Broncos are also an option for Griffin if they're unable to re-sign Brock Osweiler. 

Ian Rapoport/NFL.com

Tags: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Football Team, Free Agent Rumor, Misc Rumor

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Naughright Called Sexual Abuse Center On Night Of Manning Incident

Feb 23, 2016 12:36 PM

The accuser of Peyton Manning who claims he pressed his buttocks and genitals against her face in 1996 called a sexual assault crisis center worker the night of the incident.

Less than three hours after the Feb. 29, 1996, training room incident, then-trainer Jamie Naughright called a Knoxville sexual assault crisis center hotline and said she had been victimized that evening by a "very well-known public figure ... an athlete at UT" and that she had already reported the incident to her supervisor.

According to the document, Naughright did not name Manning and did not want to discuss details of the assault over the phone because she "feared for her job, worried and feared for her life."

Notes written by the crisis center worker quote Naughright as saying, "I can't believe this ... sense there will be a cover-up."

T.J. Quinn/ESPN

Tags: Denver Broncos

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DeMarcus Ware May Need To Rework Contract With Broncos

Feb 22, 2016 12:06 PM

DeMarcus Ware may need to rework his deal to stay with the Denver Broncos in 2016.

Ware currently has a cap figure of $11.67 million while the Broncos will work to re-sign Von Miller.

Ware signed with the Broncos in 2014.

Jeff Legwold/ESPN

Tags: Denver Broncos, Misc Rumor

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Von Miller Expects To Sign Long-Term Deal With Broncos

Feb 18, 2016 8:22 PM

Von Miller expects to sign a long-term deal with the Denver Broncos.

Miller is slated to be an unrestricted free agent in March and will command a new deal that could make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.

The Broncos have the franchise tag to use and could designate Miller with that in the coming days to keep him off the open market while they try to work out a long-term deal.

Miller said Thursday he has every expectation he will have a long-term deal with the Broncos.

"I put in all the work I can possibly do,'' Miller said. "If I was with any other organization, if I was with any other team, maybe I'd be worried about everything, but I've got [executive vice president of football operations/general manager] John Elway. He's played, he's had experience with this whole process. I feel comfortable. Me and John's relationship is great: He was there when I was going through stuff and he never wavered. I feel like we won't waver now either. It will be a great experience, and it will be peaceful -- there's no reason for it not to be.''

Jeff Legwold/ESPN

Tags: Denver Broncos, Free Agent Rumor, Misc Rumor

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McCann: Interesting Media Hasn't Pounced On Peyton Story Until Now

Feb 17, 2016 6:11 PM

Michael McMann talked about the Peyton Manning sexual assault story that resurfaced this month.

McMann, a legal analyst for Sports Illustrated, believes it will hurt Manning more publicly than legally.

“Nothing is going to come of this, there isn’t going to be some new investigation into what happened 20 years ago,” McCann said. “The statue of limitations have expired. It really ended in 2005 when the litigation ended in a settlement.”

Manning allegedly put his genitals on the face of a female Tennessee trainer when he was in college. Manning was sued and then wrote about the incident in his book and was sued again.

“I have to think that there’s a chance that his reputation will be irreparably hurt,” McCann said. “I don’t think he’s going to be seen as villain or anything like that, and he’s going to go to the Hall of Fame. I don’t think it’s going to have that kind of dramatic impact, but this is going to be a cloud over him, and he can’t really talk about it because he signed a non-disclosure agreement as part of the settlement.”

Manning gives a detailed account of his version of the events in his autobiography.

“I can’t believe that Peyton Manning would include this topic in his 2001 book. This scandal had ended by then. There was a settlement between Dr. Naughright and the university. This was over,” said McCann. “It’s baffling to me that he would take an old scandal that was gone and bring it back into the spotlight. He’s lucky that in 2001 this wasn’t a bigger story.”

Added McCann: “It’s interesting that his account in the book was pretty bad. So if that’s his favorable account, we can only imagine that it was worse than that in reality. It’s interesting that the media hasn’t pounced on this until now.”

Travis Upham/WEEI

Tags: Denver Broncos

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Bob Kravitz: Peyton Manning Is A Great Grudge-Holder

Feb 15, 2016 9:07 PM

Peyton Manning has been the subject of multiple lawsuits because he insisted on mentioning Jamie Naughright in his autobiography.

Manning had been previously sued by Naughright and he tried to tell his side of the story. Manning was subsequently sued for defamation.

“Because he holds grudges,” longtime Indianapolis columnist Bob Kravitz said. “He is one of the great grudge-holders I’ve ever seen and it’s not something that he wears particularly well. It’s probably I would say one of his worst qualities. We saw it, remember the Pro Bowl, where he was angry at Mike Vanderjagt and a couple of days later Peyton went off on Mike Vanderjagt called him a liquored-up kicker. [Former Colts coach] Jim Mora was very critical of him after a game against San Francisco. It was actually the ‘playoffs’ rant game, and [Manning] thought about it for a couple of days and went off on Jim Mora in a conference call with Baltimore writers. He remembers everything. He remembers slights like most athletes do and I think that’s that was all about is he holds grudges.”

Manning has yet to respond to the latest series of reports.

Mike Florio/Pro Football Talk

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Broncos Waiting On Manning Before Working On Brock Osweiler Contract

Feb 15, 2016 11:09 AM

The Denver Broncos are waiting to negotiate a new contract with Brock Osweiler until Peyton Manning announces his decision for the 2016 season. The Broncos are doing so out of respect of Manning.

Osweiler had a 5-2 record as a starting quarterback for the Broncos.

The Broncos plan on having Osweiler as their starting quarterback in 2016.

Manning needs to notify the Broncos of his future plans no later than March 8 because on March 9 his $19 million salary for the 2016 season.

Mike Kils/NBC Denver

Tags: Denver Broncos, Free Agent Rumor, Misc Rumor

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Lawsuit Against Tennessee Lists Peyton Manning

Feb 14, 2016 12:25 PM

A lawsuit filed by six women identified only as "Jane Does" against the University of Tennessee lists Peyton Manning as one of 10 former players accused of sexual assault or other misconduct in making its case that UT's athletics department has a long-standing pattern — that it "deliberately created (and creates) a hostile discriminatory sexual environment for female students" and "acted with deliberate indifference in response to incidents of sexual assault," particularly made against "major sports" athletes.

The UT lawsuit filed last week calls out an alleged 1996 incident in which Manning, a UT football player, was accused of placing his naked genitals on the face of the female trainer while she was examining him. Manning has denied the allegations and said he was "mooning" a fellow athlete. The trainer, Dr. Jamie Naughright, later sued Manning after he described her in a book as "vulgar mouthed."

Anita Wadhwani, Nate Rau/Tennesseean

Tags: Denver Broncos

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More Details Emerge Of Peyton Manning's Alleged Sexual Assault At UT
Peyton Manning had two alleged sexual assaults against Jamie Ann Naughright during his collegiate career at Tennessee.

Shaun King/New York Daily News (via PFT)

Polian: Peyton Manning Qualified To Immediately Become NFL GM
The Titans and Browns have been linked to working with Peyton Manning once he retires.

Marc Sessler/NFL.com

Peyton Manning Must Make Decision By Mar. 9th
The Broncos aren't trying to rush the decision of Peyton Manning but his $19 million base salary becomes guaranteed on March 9th.

Jeff Legwold/ESPN

Broncos' Goal Is Long-Term Deal For Von Miller
Von Miller has been one of the NFL's best pass rushers since coming into the league with the second overall pick in 2011.

Dan Hanzus/NFL.com

Super Bowl 50 Draws 111.9M Viewers, Down From Super Bowl 49
Six of the past seven Super Bowls until this one had set a viewership record.

David Bauder/Associated Press

Budweiser Didn't Pay Peyton Manning For Postgame Plug
Budweiser spent an estimated $15 million on three Super Bowl ads this year.

Barbara Kollmeyer/Market Watch

Patriots, Panthers Have Best 2016 Super Bowl Odds (All Teams Listed)
The Broncos have the ninth best odds at 18-1.

Oskar Garcia/AP

Peyton Manning Won't Rush Retirement Decision
Peyton Manning battled a left foot injury and missed seven starts before getting his job back in Week 17.

Jeff Legwold/ESPN

Peyton Manning Nearly In Tears Addressing Broncos
Peyton Manning didn't say whether the game would be his last in the NFL.

Sal Paolantonio/ESPN

Peyton Manning's Legal Team Hired Private Investigator On PED Source
Peyton Manning's legal team hired private investigators to visit the source of a report that he and other athletes obtained performance enhancing drugs.

ESPN

Irsay Asks Peyton Manning To Retire With Colts
Peyton Manning left the Colts in 2012 to join the Broncos.

Chris Wesseling/NFL.com

Rams Interested In Signing Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning remains under contract with the Broncos for 2016, but most around the NFL expect him not to return to the franchise.

Adam Schefter/ESPN

Peyton Manning's 2015 Was Worst Season Of Any Super Bowl QB Ever
The Broncos' most similar team historically was the 2009 Jets.

Neil Paine/FiveThirtyEight