Most of the Broncos returned to Dove Valley for the first day of the team’s voluntary offseason workout today.
But to veteran cornerback Champ Bailey, now the team’s longest-tenured player, what was most noticeable was the players who aren’t here.
All five of the Broncos restricted free agents failed to show for the first day of weight training and conditioning work. And several starters from the 2009 team were recently cut or not re-signed were absent, too.
“I noticed not as many guys are here as normal. I guess with a lot of guys being restricted, and new guys coming in, not everyone’s going to be here,” Bailey said. “That’s just another thing we have to deal with.”
Restricted free agents Elvis Dumervil, Brandon Marshall, Chris Kuper and Tony Scheffler have all decided to skip the team-run workouts as a way to protest the one-year tenders they received from the team. Restricted free agents across the league are expected to take similar action.
The Broncos’ other restricted free agent, quarterback Kyle Orton, was not in Denver Monday, but he told The Denver Post Sunday that he would re-join his teammates here on Friday after he returns from the NFL Players Association meetings in Hawaii.
“Obviously I wish we’d get a deal done and then we wouldn’t have this problem, a CBA, and then obviously a deal with those guys. It’s their own choice,” Bailey said. “If they got problems with their contract, that’s their own situation. I know one player in particular, or two, Kyle and Elvis Dumervil, because I know them on a more personal level, and I know they’re going to be working hard, so I’m not worried about those two.”
Bailey said he hasn’t spoken to Marshall since they were both at the Pro Bowl in late January, but that he planned to call Marshall soon to “see where he’s going.”
The Broncos’ offseason conditioning program continues through late June. The team is expected to hold its first organized team activity (OTA) — a minicamp — after the draft in May.
“Honestly man, it starts way too early. I think our first game is what, September?” Bailey said. “It is what it is, though. They pay me a lot of money to come here and work out with these guys though, so I’m going to be here.”
Lindsay Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
