At Dove Valley, others are in charge of finding talent. It’s Mike Bluem’s job to find a way to get it done.
“I’m not the ‘who.’ I’m the ‘how,”‘ said the precocious Broncos administrator, who has worked his way up from a 21-year-old intern to his current role of director of football administration at age 33. “It’s my job to think of ways of helping the team, staying within league and cash-flow limits.”
This weekend during the NFL draft, Bluem won’t be responsible for adding the final pieces to the new-look Broncos roster. But the salary cap administrator is an important cog. It is Bluem’s responsibility to determine whether the Broncos can afford to move up in the draft.
The Broncos, who earlier talked to Detroit about the No. 2 pick, will continue to monitor opportunities to move up. Bluem will be right there, discussing possibilities with coach Mike Shanahan and general manager Ted Sundquist. During the draft, Bluem will be working in the war room as the team’s liaison to the NFL if and when the Broncos make trades on the clock.
“This is my season, these are the times when I work the extra hours like the coaches do during the season,” Bluem said. “We all have a responsibility to help the team.”
Said Broncos executive vice president of business operations Joe Ellis: “Managing the salary cap in tandem with Ted Sundquist and Coach Shanahan and balancing it with the objective of putting the best possible team on the field combined with keeping to a sound business policy can sometimes be tricky. Mike has to be commended for keeping everything in order and in the proper perspective.”
In the busiest offseason in recent Broncos memory, Bluem was perhaps the busiest at Dove Valley as the team seemingly dried off a multimillion dollar contract every day in early March.
The team has acquired 10 players either through free agency or trade, including big-ticket free agents Travis Henry and Daniel Graham and trade acquisition Dré Bly.
Bluem begins formulating a plan for the offseason during the season. He admits he and Sund- quist conjure up some wild ideas in their adjacent offices. The chemistry lab is often working overtime.
“We think of many options,” Bluem said. “Many of the ideas involving hundreds of players never leave the office. But it’s our job to see how we can make the Broncos better, and working through options and plans is the way to do it.”
Those who work closely with Bluem say it’s the innovative nature that makes him stand out from other salary cap specialists. The job is much more than crunching numbers.
“Issue spotting and defining potential issues that come up in contract are a great strength of Mike’s,” Denver-based agent Peter Schaffer said. “In discussions, the players’ needs, issues and wants along with the club’s issues and restraints can have different dynamics, and Mike handles all of those issues in an innovative, professional way.”
Schaffer has engaged in several complicated negotiations in recent years with Denver, yet he commends Bluem’s policy and approach.
“He’s the type of guy who you’d go out for a beer with, but you probably wouldn’t invite him to your house to play poker,” Schaffer said. “He’d probably be pretty good at it.”
Bluem had no idea this would be his career path. In 1995, he served a 10-week internship in the college-scouting department. Bluem didn’t know he was being kept until after his internship expired. Five years into his role in the college-scouting department, Bluem was approached by Shanahan at the NFL combine about being groomed to take over the salary cap once Dave Blando left. Blando departed a year later in 2001, and Bluem took over. He now admits, he was “raw as you could be.”
“He has the skill set for the position,” said Blando, now with Minnesota. “Mike is very innovative and one of his strongest features is he’s unflappable, which is important in his role.”
Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-954-1262 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
