He's going to Denver...fantastic. That's what winning teams do they continue to get better.

GM good at adding talent from all three phases?

Check.

QB?

Check.

Profit...

NFL history says this approach never works

They're not going to pull off the trade, CLE will want more than Denver is willing to part with and that's fine.

Denver won back to back Super Bowls doing this. Denver has signed more free agents than any team since free agency began, and over the past 30+ years Denver has the highest winning percentage and more Super Bowl appearances than any team in the league. NFL history says this approach has worked VERY WELL for Denver.

Negotiation. If Cleveland is serious about making a trade, it will go down. If Cleveland is only interested in making a trade if their socks get blown off, then they'll probably keep him...

I don't know if you guys are having issues on the line, but Thomas would be a great add for any team. His cap number is more than reasonable also, for a guy who is basically the best at his position.

Kind of hard to see why the Browns would trade him though, even for a 1st. Let's assume the Broncos at least make the AFCCG with Thomas. That's pick 28-32. For Joe Thomas. What are you going ot do, use that pick on another LT, who won't be as good but will last 10 years (if you're lucky) instead of 4 like Thomas will, and at cheaper dollars.

Doesn't really make a ton of sense to me for the Browns to do it without some added sweetener. Joe Thomas is **everything** you want on your team, at a position of high value. You build around guys like that, you don't sell them.

But, hey, it's the freaking Browns.

Cleveland reported to want 2 1st rounders. Lol, no thanks

Maybe a sleeper team jumps in and sweetens the deal.

Yeah, the OL has been a hot mess all year... with a rookie (Ty) starting over there for a while and is now on IR. The OL could certainly use Joe Thomas without a freaking hesitation... which is probably why CLE is asking for more, it's a definite need for Denver with a 39 year old QB and struggling run game.

Mack has a no trade clause....so he isn't going anywhere. Especially when he can opt out of his contract after this year and make huge money in FA.

It always works.

GM needs to know how to add talent. Not just in the draft but use free agency and trades as well.

Team also needs a good QB.

Packers traded for Favre. Manning was a FA. Ruthlessrapist, Eli, Rodgers, and Brady were drafted.

Let me guess, you're like 16 years old?

First, unrestricted free agency began in 1992, so if your point is that signing free agents = SB appearances, you should ignore anything prior to 1992. Since 1992 the Broncos have 3 SB appearances. They don't have the highest winning percentage OR the most SB appearances since 1992. Patriots, at least, have them beat, and I bet the Packers do too. Possibly the Steelers also.

Second, trading for players isn't even free agency, so WTF are you talking about?

Third, the regime in Denver has changed several times since 1992, right? You've got Shanarat, a couple of other guys, and now Elway. Not all had the same view on free agency.

I can't readily determine who singed "the most" free agents, but tons of free agent signings are street free agents immediately after the draft. Are you counting those too, or just veterans?

So other than your basic premise being wrong, your facts being wrong, and your entire point being completely irrelevant anyway, this was a great post.

I've only seen two Denver games this year. An early one where they had their usual squeaker and everything seemed a hot mess, and the Packers game the other night, where the OL seemed to do just fine against what is supposedly a pretty good Packer front 7.

But yeah, Joe Thomas is better than EVERY other LT in the league, and I'm sure he would help you out alot. So, of course, here's hoping you DON'T get him. :D

This...

You are a ****ing imbecile

The Pats have offered their videotaping ring inside AFC North team headquarters

It's failed the last 3 years. Welker, Ware, Talib, Phillips, etc.

Spend, spend, spend.

In the end it's Brady/Hoodie vs Manning/Kubiak and we all know how that will play out.

And now their defense might be the best in the league...

Barrett is a nobody with a dumb first name that's nothing more than a product of Wades scheme.

Thanks to Wades trickery

Trickery? It's called talent.

If the Browns want more than a 1st give them Fisher AND a 1st...

:D

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_18466099

That article was written in 2011, which was before Denver signed Manning, Talib, Ware, Welker, Emmanuel Sanders, Terrence Knighton.......

Who giveth a shit, really? They have signed a metric ton of FAs because in some years, the draft classes were complete misfires. That's just the simple, ugly truth of it all.

Our Super Bowl winning teams were loaded with free agents. (Zimmerman, Schlereth, Tony Jones, Howard Griffith, Romo, McCaffery, Willie Green, Darrien Gordon, Tyrone Braxton, Glenn Cadrez, Neil Smith, Keith Traylor, Alfred Williams, Ray Crocket)

I was just disputing the post that claimed that acquiring players from other teams doesn't work...

Half the time people post something in your general direction... it's just poking you with a stick or general sarcasm. Of course people realize that teams have been built through FA to win SBs. It's not a consistent winning formula, year in and year out.

You guys should send that crappy #1 pick Fisher, Smith, Reid and your #1 for Thomas. While your at it sweeten the deal with Dee "runaway" Ford.

lol

Ford's future as a situational pass rusher (at minimum) still looks bright.

I'd be glad to be rid of the rest...

Rumor is that the Broncos and Browns had worked out a deal -- Joe Thomas and a 4th for Denver's 1st and 2nd, but that the Broncos were racing to create cap room at the last minute.

And it seems they might have run out of time.

Browns HC at podium saying that it is "his understanding" that no moves were made by the Browns today.

And now confirmed.

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 53s54 seconds ago
A potential Joe-Thomas-to-Denver deal that both sides were working on up until the deadline did not get completed, per league sources.

See, they also have to work within a cap and just couldn't pull a rabbit outta the hat this time...

Can't say they didn't try...

I don't understand this "the cap is crap" nonsense. Sure, you can massage it and maneuver within it etc. etc., but it's very real, and today's gain is tomorrow's pain, OR VICE VERSA.

Pats took a bunch of dead money onto this year's cap to help free up room for next year, so we can extend Jones/Hightower/Collins (or some of them at least). The cap is all about choices.

And, as usual, the NFL trade deadline triggers many gigabytes of talk and basically no trades.

Acquiring Thomas would have been great, but making it fit in the cap had to be a nightmare at this point... likely would have cost a bit of their depth.

Klis is reporting it was all about a disagreement on comp for Thomas, not the cap.

More likely it would have cost cap room next year, but yes, to get the gain there must be some pain somewhere.

Sounds like the reports and the rush by 247 "news" outlets and twitter heads made it more real than it was...

People who insist this have no idea what they're talking about. The Patriots are dodging the cap because they have a qb who has consistently made average pieces look terrific. The Broncos have done it mostly through excellent drafting. The recent Patriots and Broncos spending runs are due to both teams realizing they need to go all in now while they are lucky enough to have a HOF QB.

And much as we drool over the Patriots going on spending runs, for most of bradys career, the Pats had 1 or 2 quiet off seasons followed by a spending splurge.

It helps that Tom Brady has cap hits of $14M, $15M and $16M.

Pats rarely go on spending "runs", IMHO. They are I think one of the best at managing the cap over the long term, and have frequently cut or traded players who they would prefer to keep because the cap number for the player doesn't line up with perceived "value". From Lawyer Milloy to Richard Seymour to Logan Mankins, the Pats have repeatedly bitten the bullet on tough choices.

Partly as a result, they actually have a reputation here for being cheap. Ask most Pats fans and they think the Pats are ridiculous in letting those guys go for cap reasons, and they argue that the Pats don't go "all in" because they don't sign a Suh, or whatever big name FA is avaialble. I disagree with that also. Although the Pats almost never "set the market" at any given position, at one point Brady had signed the most lucrative deal for a QB ever. They also signed Adalius Thomas, Rosevelt Colvin and Revis for deals that were very, very lucrative.

Eh, whatever. Nobody here wants a lengthy dissertation on Pats cap management style so I will stop now.

You should send your MOM, she'd create a HUGE gap for that offensive Line !

*You're*

yup
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14...e-thomas-trade
The Broncos would have had to make some salary cap adjustments to add Thomas and still keep enough cap space for players who will be moved to injured reserve over the remainder of the season as well as replacements they sign. With Ty Sambrailo headed to injured reserve, the Broncos will have $12.1 million worth of salary cap charges from players on injured reserve, including $10.6 million from Ryan Clady.

The Broncos had about $5 million worth of cap space after adding Davis, and the pro-rated cap charge for the rest of 2016 for Thomas would have been more than $5 million. To get Thomas on the roster and still have enough room to make future moves, the Broncos would have had to rework some current contracts or potentially release players.

Thomas also has three more years, beyond this season, remaining on his contract. He has salary cap figures of $9.5 million in 2016, $10 million in 2017 and $10 million in 2018. His acquisition likely would have affected Clady's future as well.

Clady, who has had three major surgeries in recent years, including this year's ACL repair, is scheduled to count $10.1 million against the salary cap in 2016 and $10.6 million in 2017.