The Broncos will enter the regular season Thursday with their highest-price contract question still looming. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, whose three-year, $15 million deal ends this season, will start his contract year with his future on the line.
“We wanted to hear something back last Sunday and haven’t heard anything from them,” Broncos general manager John Elway said of Sanders and his agent. “That’s kind of where it is.”
On Thursday, the Los Angeles Rams signed receiver Tavon Austin to a four-year contract with $30 million guaranteed. It suddenly changed the terms on Sanders’ negotiations, raising his market value. In the past two years, Sanders has 177 receptions for 2,539 yards. Austin has 77 catches for 715 yards over the same span. Indirectly, the story said, Austin’s deal with the Rams eventually may price Sanders out of Denver.