The Broncos have agreed to a four-year deal with rookie wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland.
The Denver Broncos agreed to terms on a four-year contract with rookie wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland, the team announced Wednesday.
Cleveland’s contract is expected to have a signing bonus of $75,492 and a total value of $3,370,492, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis. His signing bonus will be prorated over the four years of his contract for salary cap purposes.
Cleveland (6-2, 209 pounds) caught 79 passes for 1,271 yards and eight touchdowns during his four seasons at Florida. He averaged 16.1 yards per catch during his time with the Gators.
Cleveland, one of the team’s seventh-round picks, will compete with Diontae Spencer, DaeSean Hamilton, Juwann Winfree, Kelvin McKnight, Zimari Manning, Kendall Hinton, Fred Brown and Trinity Benson for a spot on the Broncos’ 53-man roster this summer.
Denver’s draft class will have combined salary cap hits of $9,980,665 but the net cap hit will be closer to $3,219,217. After signing their draft class, the Broncos will have about $13,837,021 in remaining salary cap space.
Broncos wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland is preparing for his rookie season with footwork trainer Rischad Whitfield.
Denver Broncos rookie wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland has been working with Houston-based trainer Rischad Whitfield, who goes by “Footwork King” on social media. Cleveland trained with Whitfield leading up to the NFL combine earlier this offseason.
Last week, Whitfield shared a brief clip of Cleveland’s footwork on Twitter.
Cleveland (6-2, 205 pounds) was selected by the Broncos in the seventh round of the NFL Draft. In four seasons at Florida, Cleveland caught 79 passes for 1,271 yards and eight touchdowns.
Cleveland will join a crowded wide receiver room in Denver and he will face long odds to make the 53-man roster. Cleveland is willing to play on special teams, which will help his chances of making the team.
The Broncos’ late-round draft picks will increase their chances of making the roster if they play well on special teams.
Broncos seventh-round draft pick Tyrie Cleveland will be joining an extremely crowded wide receiver room in Denver, so he will have long odds to make the team’s 53-man roster.
To improve his chances of making the team, Cleveland could excel on special teams as a gunner during the preseason.
“I played special teams over at Florida,” Cleveland said during a conference call with reporters on April 25. “I’m just going to come in and just whatever the coach wants me to do, whatever they have me at.
“I’m going to come in and work hard and try to do my best to go out there and just make plays and just continue to fight and continue to get better and continue to work on my craft and [help] bring the Super Bowl back to Denver.”
That kind of willing-to-do-anything mentality will certainly be appreciated by the Broncos’ coaching staff. Fifth-round draft pick Justin Strnad also expressed a willingness to contribute on special teams.
“I played all special teams my first two years of college, so I think I’m going to be able to come in right away and help in any special teams they need me to,” Strand said on April 25.
Later this year, Denver will have to make some tough cuts to trim the roster from 90 players down to 53. Players like Cleveland and Strand will help their chances of making the final roster if they make an impact on special teams.
Here’s video of when John Elway told Tyrie Cleveland he was going to be a Bronco.
The Denver Broncos selected wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft on Saturday. Here’s video of when GM John Elway told Cleveland he was going to be a Bronco:
Cleveland will be joining a crowded wide receiver room that already includes a first-round draft pick and a pair of second-round draft picks. He will have long odds to make the 53-man roster but will have a shot to make the practice squad.
The Broncos selected wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
With the 252nd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos selected Florida wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland on Saturday afternoon.
Cleveland (6-2, 209 pounds) bench-pressed 225 pounds 13 times and ran a 40-yard dash in 4.46 seconds at the combine earlier this offseason.
NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein predicted that Cleveland could go as early as the sixth round so getting him toward the end of the seventh round is decent value for Denver.
“His size is a plus and his effort on special teams could become an important differentiator if he is to make a roster or practice squad,” Zierlein wrote of Cleveland on NFL.com before the draft.
In four seasons with the Gators, Cleveland caught 79 passes for 1,271 yards and eight touchdowns. He was the third wide receiver Broncos general manager John Elway drafted this year, joining first-round pick Jerry Jeudy and second-round selection KJ Hamler.
To view Denver’s complete 10-player NFL draft class, click here.
The week is finally here as the Indianapolis Colts put the finishing touches on their prep for the 2020 NFL draft, which is set to begin Thursday night.
Though the Colts won’t be on the clock until Friday unless they make a move up, this week will be all about cleaning everything up and making the final touches before the biggest event of the offseason arrives. The same goes for us as well be making our final predictions for the draft.
Without using a simulator, just good old fashioned projections, here is our final seven-round mock draft for the Colts in the 2020 draft:
*Trade the No. 34 pick to the Vikings for Nos. 58 and 89*
Chris Ballard mentioned in his pre-draft conference call that he wants to add more picks. He wasn’t asked about it but still said it unprompted. As he has done in every draft, Ballard will move around and add some picks. Here, the Colts are able to move back later in the second round but add an extra third-round pick. It makes it easier to move this far back having the No. 44 pick already.
No. 44 | Michael Pittman Jr. | WR | USC
After trading back and adding an extra third, the Colts are likely to use one of their second-round picks on a wide receiver. Pittman Jr. is the perfect prospect for the Colts given his size, length and contested-catch ability on the boundary. He wins with physicality and has shown a knack for beating press coverage. He won’t win with pure speed, but he gets enough separation to be a threat downfield and on the intermediate routes as a possession receiver.
With Philip Rivers under center, Pittman Jr. would quickly become a favorite target. Addin that Pittman Jr. understands the NFL life from his father and was a senior captain with the Trojans, this pick makes too much sense.
No. 58 (from MIN) | Josh Uche | EDGE | Michigan
This spot is really tough because there are so many options. They could add a quarterback here or even an offensive tackle but given Ballard’s propensity for adding to the defensive line, I think we see him select and edge piece earlier than expected. With Uche, Ballard would be drafting another strong athlete with the versatility to work on the edge or as a SAM backer.
While he might be a little undersized to be a full-time edge rusher, Uche wins with speed, length and incredible bend when running the arc. He’s twitchy and rangy but has to develop his pass-rushing plan and overall instincts at the position. Seeing that he doesn’t have to start right away, Uche can hone his crafts and become a strong future piece of the front seven while giving the Colts a bendy, speedy rush on sub-packages to start out.
The Indianapolis Colts saw the order of their picks change slightly in the 2020 NFL draft following the announcement of the compensatory picks on Tuesday.
As was to be expected, the Colts didn’t receive any extra draft capital and because of it, a few of their selections were pushed back to make room for others. The rounds most impacted came on Day 3.
With the new pick order for the Colts, here is an updated seven-round mock draft using The Draft Network’s mock draft simulator:
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
No. 13 | Justin Herbert | QB | Oregon
There were a lot of options on the board for the Colts, including both wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. Those two were difficult to pass up, but the Colts ultimately should be looking to draft a quarterback at the No. 13 spot if they can. In this simulation, Herbert is the choice.
Armed with a high upside and high character, Herbert brings just about everything the Colts could want in a potential franchise quarterback. He has immense arm strength, impressive mobility outside of the pocket and the work ethic, leadership and IQ to be an above-average starter in the league.
There are some concerns with his consistency on downfield throws. He will also need to work on his footwork within the pocket and when facing pressure. Timing and anticipation are also two aspects that will need improvement. Fortunately, all of those things can be improved.
There is a lot to like about Herbert and if he’s on the board at No. 13, it will be difficult for the Colts to pass him up.
With the NFL scouting combine on its way out, the Indianapolis Colts now have some official measurements to add to the tape they’ve been watching on the majority of prospects entering the 2020 NFL draft.
There is still a lot left in the process for the Colts. They have to go back to the tape, compare the measurements and scores with what they see on film, talk to these players that might be on their draft board and a number of other objectives before April 23 hits.
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Free agency will also have a lot to do with how the Colts go about their draft process but it isn’t yet clear what will happen as we still have a few weeks left until the market opens.
Using The Draft Network’s mock draft machine, here is a seven-round mock draft for the Colts following the combine:
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
No. 13 | Henry Ruggs III | WR | Alabama
I know, I know. The Colts need a quarterback, and I ultimately think that’s the best way to go about their draft regardless of what happens over the next few months. However, the possibility of the Colts not addressing the quarterback position heavily is just as high as using this pick on a signal-caller.
General manager Chris Ballard has stated all offseason the need to get more explosive. It doesn’t come in a better package than Ruggs. Some might believe he’s just a burner, but that narrative should be put to rest. His combine numbers only backed up what he was putting on film.
We knew Ruggs would crush the 40-yard dash, which he did by posting a 4.27 time. But he also tested in elite percentiles in other important measurements:
Broad jump: 131″ (94th)
Vertical jump: 42″ (97th)
Hand size: 10 1/8″ (90th)
The Colts don’t like to invest heavily into wide receivers in the first round, but the ceiling for Ruggs is Tyreek Hill. Ballard desperately needs that type of talent in Frank Reich’s offense.
This pick could certainly address the defensive line, but Ruggs’ impact might go further because of the complete lack of explosiveness on offense.
