With a reworked contract on the horizon, Todd Sauerbrun will make his Broncos practice debut today when the team opens its three-day mandatory minicamp.
“Todd is already in Denver, and he’ll be there at minicamp,” Sauerbrun’s agent, David Canter, said Tuesday. “He’s excited about playing in Denver, helping the Broncos win a Super Bowl and setting punting records in the high altitude there.”
The Broncos acquired Sauerbrun, a three-time Pro Bowl punter with Carolina, in a trade in May. In exchange, Denver sent punter Jason Baker and its seventh-round pick in the 2006 NFL draft to Carolina.
After the trade was complete, Canter said he was seeking a new deal for his client. Tuesday, Canter said an agreement has been reached, although a contract has not been signed.
Canter declined to talk about details of the contract, saying he promised coach Mike Shanahan he would not discuss it. This spring, while trade talks between the Broncos and Panthers were heating up, Canter said Sauerbrun wanted to convert some of his base salary over the next three seasons into a signing bonus. Sauerbrun is due $3.895 million over the next three seasons. His base salary is $1.2 million in 2005, $1.295 million in 2006 and $1.4 million in 2007.
Also expected to fully participate in this week’s minicamp are defensive ends Courtney Brown and Ebenezer Ekuban. The two former Cleveland Browns were limited participants in Denver’s first two offseason camps because they were rehabilitating injuries.
Brown, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft, was released by Cleveland in March, then signed by the Broncos. The oft-injured Brown missed the final 14 games of the 2004 season with ligament damage in his left foot. He had surgery on the foot in February. Brown has missed 33 games during his five-year NFL career.
Ekuban, part of the offseason trade that sent running back Reuben Droughns to Cleveland, has been recovering from a shoulder injury.
At last month’s team camp, Shanahan said he expected Ekuban and Brown to fully participate in this week’s minicamp. Shanahan said at the time that Brown’s rehabilitation was on schedule.
“With a good conditioning program the next three weeks, I think it’s a good time frame for him,” Shanahan said. “Not only does he get to do the (minicamp), he gets to work out for another two or three weeks after getting ready for the regular training camp. This is the time of year when you want to make sure when a guy rehabs that you don’t do it too quickly. But there should be no setbacks and he should be ready to go.”
The Broncos are the last team to hold a mandatory minicamp. Shanahan said he thinks there are benefits – especially for rookies – to holding the minicamp now, with players reporting for training camp on July 28.
“We are throwing things at them constantly, so they absorb it as it goes on,” Shanahan said. “This gives them an opportunity, once we go to our summer camp, not to think but to just kind of react and play football.”
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
