Ryan Clady Agrees to 5-Year, $57.5 Million Deal with Broncos

Jan 12, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos tackle Ryan Clady (78) against the Baltimore Ravens during the AFC divisional round playoff game at Sports Authority Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Over the past few weeks, there has been an arms race to break stories around the NBA’s Free Agency Period. In fact, there has even been a new term (at least in the mainstream) of a “Woj Bomb” when Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski breaks news before anyone else can. On Sunday night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped an NFL “bomb” of his own on Twitter.

Ryan Clady and Denver have agreed to a five-year, $57.5 million contract, including $33 million guaranteed.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2013

Clady and Denver had been working for weeks on a new deal to avoid the use of the franchise tag, and the two sides came to an agreement right before the deadline to do so. Clady is one of the best offensive tackles in all of football, and he is worth every penny of the now-confirmed deal.

While the $57.5 million “total” is always funny in the NFL, Clady’s deal includes the aforementioned $33 million guaranteed, and a base salary of $52.5 million according to Pro Football Talk. This is the going rate for elite tackle play, and with Denver trying to maximize the final years of Peyton Manning’s career, they were in desperate need of a long-term deal with Clady to ensure his future safety.

As the Monday afternoon (4:00 pm ET) deadline approaches for long-term contracts surrounding “franchise” players, Denver fans can breathe easily.

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