Fax Error Leads to Denver Broncos Releasing Elvis Dumervil

The Denver Broncos thought they had finally talked Elvis Dumervil off the ledge and into a restructured contract. While that was indeed the case, the Broncos failed to fax the agreement to the league and as a result have been forced to release Dumervil as a result of missing the 4pm ET deadline to get a new deal done with him.

The fax snafu is a rare case and it’s confusing a lot of people. While Dumervil had agreed to lower his salary, as was reported earlier, he needed to sign the agreement and have it faxed back the the league before the 4pm ET deadline, which he failed to do. As a result, Dumervil has been unconditionally released by the Broncos and is officially an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team that is willing to give him a contract.

It’s also bad news for the Broncos, who now have to take a dead money salary hit for releasing Dumervil. The whole point in restructuring Dumervil was to save money on his $12 million contract but the Broncos now have to take a hit on that due to the botched paperwork.

By the way, fax machines are apparently still used — so there’s an interesting footnote to all of this.

Dumervil can return to the Broncos but he’ll be able to talk to any team he wants to now and could receive an offer that was higher than what the Broncos were offering him. However, the market is cold for defensive ends and those getting signed are doing so for less than what the Broncos were willing to give Dumervil next season.