Elvis has left the building. The Broncos lost one of their best players yesterday because of a missed deadline in one of the more bizarre transactions of the wild NFL offseason.
A half hour before yesterday’s deadline, Elvis Dumervil agreed to take a pay cut to remain with Denver, but the Broncos didn’t receive the defensive end’s signed contract by fax until six minutes after the 4 p.m. EDT deadline.
Dumervil had to be released because of the gaffe. Otherwise, his $12 million would have counted against the team’s cap because he was technically still on the roster after the deadline. The team had already filed the paperwork to release him when it received the fax from Dumervil and his agent at 4:06 p.m.
The Broncos can still re-sign Dumervil, but his old deal is now completely void. So he’ll hit the open market as a free agent. Dumervil had 11 sacks this past season and a career high 17 in 2009 when he led the league.
Another top defensive end, Cliff Aviril, just signed a two-year deal with the Seahawks with an average of $7.5 million a year.
Dumervil’s agent, Marty Magid, did not return messages left by AP via text and voicemail.
The Broncos now can start looking at other defensive ends, including Dwight Freeney, in what appears to be a buyer’s market for pass rushers. Though the parties had agreed on a deal, the odds of Dumervil returning to Denver are diminished because of the significant salary cap hit the Broncos took by cutting him.