Elway Hints at Broncos' Plan to Strike Unprecedented Deal with Phillip Lindsay
The start of Phillip Lindsay's career has been prolific and historic. Not only did he earn an unprecedented Pro Bowl berth as an undrafted rookie in 2018, but the next season, the Denver Broncos' diminutive running back became the first undrafted player in NFL history to eclipse the 1,000-yard rushing mark in each of his first two seasons.
It's never been done before. Heck, only three other Broncos in team history have ever even posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, period. It's rare.
If his first two years in the league serve as any harbinger, Lindsay is only scratching the surface on his ability. He's already on an all-time trajectory for the Broncos. But none of this mentions the intangible impact he makes on the Broncos.
Lindsay is this team's heart and soul, especially on the offensive side of the ball. He commands love and respect and players listen to him.
Having just completed his second NFL season, it's fair to wonder what the future holds financially for Lindsay and the Broncos. In 2020, Lindsay will enter a contract year.
In 2021, he'll be a restricted free agent. However, there's a good chance the Broncos aren't going to wait that long to get Lindsay locked down long-term.
In his end-of-season presser on Monday, GM John Elway hinted at the possibility of getting an extension done with Lindsay sometime in the 2020 calendar year, which would be unheard of.
"Yeah, we’ll look at that," Elway said in regards to extending Lindsay. "Again, we’ll get back into when we start planning and budgeting for 2020 and where we are money-wise. Obviously, Phillip has done a tremendous job and being the first college free agent to go over 1,000 yards (in two consecutive years to start his career). As Vic said last night, there are 32 dumb-dumbs that didn’t draft him and I was one of them. Thank God we talked him into coming here.”
Paying Lindsay that early would be unprecedented because as a former college free agent just two years removed from plummeting out of the NFL Draft, most teams would be 100% content to let him play out his first three years, and then see what's what when his RFA tender rolls around, kind of like what happened with C.J. Anderson circa 2016.
Most teams are in no hurry to extend a guy playing on the cheap under team control but in the case of Lindsay, the Broncos want to reward him for services rendered, while also recognizing that he's only beginning to scratch the surface of what he can do in the NFL.
“He’s been tremendous, and he’s got a heart the size of his whole body," Elway said. "The way he works. We’ll look at that. We’ll see where we are budget-wise, but yeah, that’d be something we’d look at.”
Lindsay is only 25. The Broncos can count on four to five more seasons of him playing in his prime before the over-the-hill concerns really become imminent.
At this stage, I have no idea what a Broncos' extension for Lindsay would look like. But it will be interesting to see whether Elway comes back from his month away with a slice of the team's budget being accounted for a Lindsay extension.
He's on the books to earn $660K next season. Suffice to say, he's worth a lot more than that, especially to this team.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
