As the league year and free agency began, the Denver tenures of two Broncos starters ended.
Wide receiver Javon Walker and weakside linebacker Ian Gold were both released on Friday afternoon, one day shy of two months after a frustrating 2007 season that saw both grapple with knee injuries.
BRONCOS TV: MASON ON WALKER, GOLD:
Gold’s injury sidelined him for most of the Week 15 loss at Houston and all of the last two games, during which Jamie Winborn took his place. Walker, meanwhile, finished the season on the field — with two receptions in each of the final three games — but knee problems took their toll, necessitating surgery on Oct. 19 and a recovery that limited him to spot duty upon his return to the field over a month later.
Walker seemed to foretell the future the day after the regular-season finale, when he said “No,” when asked whether he saw the team as a good fit for him.
“What it boils down to at this point is I’ve got to go where the best fit is for me,” he said during a rambling question-and-answer session that occasionally saw him lapse into the third person.
Javon Walker, Dec. 31, 2007:
“Wherever Javon’s talents can be used at, I’ve got to go to where the best fit’s for me.”
Microfracture surgery on the ailing knee is a possibility, Head Coach Mike Shanahan acknowledged at his season-ending press conference in January.
“There’s talk of a microfracture somewhere down the line,” Shanahan said then. “It could be two or three years from now; it could be four years. We just don’t know.”
Reports are also rampant that the Broncos have retained two of their unrestricted free agents — defensive end John Engelberger and tight end Nate Jackson.
Comment below.
Tags: Ian Gold, Javon Walker
Knee injuries sometimes are very hard to come back from….it takes 2 years, even if things go well. I hope they don’t pick up someone else with knee injuries, or draft a “potential” player with a serious ankle injury. Javon and Ian are both very talented, just have to get their knees back! Hope the Broncos use a couple of screening questions, like, on a Wednesday night, is it more likely you’d be seen at a Christian Bible study group or at a strip club smoking pot?…. and secondly, have you ever had major knee surgery?
I can understand getting nothing for Gold, a guy who couldn’t tackle my 80 year-old mother-in-law !! But getting NOTHING for J. Walker !!!!! Incredible !!!! Everyone knows the Cowboys want him, now they get him for nothing. Shanny, what are you thinking ? Or ARE you thinking at all ????? Re-signing Jackson is o.k. but Engelberger ??? We need to REPLACE Engelberger, not re-sign him. Who cares if he is cheap, he stinks !!!! What the heck is going on up in Dove Valley ??? Where are the offensive & defensive line signings ?? Hey Broncos = W-A-K-E U-P !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good, now can we please go find some help at DT and OT
don’t worry guys well have a great draft I can feel it,I hope we get tom zbikowski from notre dame that guy is talented we could get him in the 2nd to 4th round which gives us the option of getting a great oline men in the 1st we can do this I loved ian Gold and im sorry that he had to leave,javon was pretty good to I think we could have worked with him some more but still lets get Randy Moss instead maybe he will like Jay more then tom brady lol
and what about Lance Briggs he would be a great fit with DJ
i think we should have tried to get something for walker!! and i also think
that keeping henry is going to bite us in the a** young is the future back
of the broncos!! we still hace marshell, and stokly so we should be ok at wr
and i would also like to say,
ROD SMITH, YOU WERE, AND IN MY EYES STILL ARE
ONE OF THE BEST FOOTBALL PLAYERS TO EVER WEAR
A BRONCOS UNIFORM,AND ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS
TO EVER PLAY THE GAME, YOU WILL BE VERY MISSED
IN DENVER AND EVEYWHERE ELSE THANK YOU FOR
13 OF THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE AS A BRONCOS FAN
AND I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST WITH EVEYTHING TO
COME IN YOUR FUTURE!! AND I HOPE THAT YOU REMAIN
A PART OF THE BRONCOS ORGINIZATION!!
MARTINEZ IS JUNK!! we DO!! need to look at moss he may not be the best guy in the world, but he can catch a ball pretty damm good!!! martinez should be cut!
Kudos to the Broncos staff, I agree with every move they have made and every move they haven’t made. Maybe consider picking up one or two players in free agency. Only pick up players that are healthy and young or pick up none at all. Be patient, I like it! GO BRONCOS!
how bout de justin smith?
The funny thing is……….go ahead………replace them.
I want names.
I would have liked them to get Bernard Berrian and Gibril Wilson. Basically what the broncos are saying is we are rebuilding. They don’t have the Cap room because of Shanahan’s mindless spending. Bowlen is tired of the Shanahan wasting his money. Case in point Daniel Graham is the highest paid TD in the league. This is frustrating…..
So the browns got both Cory Williams & Shaun Rogers. They get two of the best DT on the league. What and company thinking, yeah we have Marcus Thomas who is going to be a beast but we do not have any other descent DT. We just sit back and watch 2 good DT go the same team. This hasbeen very frustrating to watch. Shanny better pull the trigger and get either Stroud or Robertson becuse we desperatly need a good veteran DT. Well I guess we will wait and see if Shanny can pull off I good deal. Hopefuly because we can not fix all of our needs in the draft.
On a good note, JOHN LYNCH RESIGHED AND IS COMING BACK, THAT IS THE BEST NEWS I HAVE HEARD ALL DAY.
Do you really think the Broncos didn’t try to get something for these two? Javon was due some $5M on the fourth. No team in the NFL thought that he would be on the Broncos roster at that time. Why would you give up even a seventh round draft choice for someone you know you can get for free? Same thing for Gold. No NFL team is going to give up ANYTHING when they think they can get it for free.
The Broncos are doing the right thing by not signing these Free Agents. Look at the contracts they are getting. Teams are paying too much for guys that are on the market for a reason. I am glad to see Shanny show a little restraint.
I think the Broncos staff really does an amazing job! There is one thing that I really don’t understand I think we hopefully can do better moving forward. It is like a big poker game. At the end of the season if Coach would have hyped up Javon knowing we where going to trade or release him then I think we would have got something for him. The last press conference Shanahan was talking about his injuries instead of blowing a little smoke like…” Javon is a all pro wideout that…bla, bla bla” and just acted like we really wanted him then the bucs, redskins, and titans would have gave us a pick at least. Water under the bridge…all good. We have a good team! With a good draft and not going after a bunch of lazy, overpriced Free Agents we will not only have success, but long term success. Nate Jackson and Ekuban are solid signings! Nate Jackson has really become a good blocker finally. He knows the system, has good hands and has grown into his weight. Ekuban could have really been the difference last year from 7 – 9 and playoffs. He is strong and can move inside on passing downs.
This is what I would like to personally see happen… (Very Rough)
MIN) FB Richardson
NE) S Wilson
DET) LB Baily
SET) WR DJ Hacket
FA
AL Wilson
The Freak
George Foster
Draft
1) Trade down if Rivers isn’t there and get RB John Stewart
2) Trade down and get SS John Z (ND) or LB, DT
4) DT Harrison, Moore, Laws or SS WR
5)FB Hills Hester or Schmidt
Don’t Hate! Broncos are going to surprise a lot of people next year! We have always been better underdogs anyway : )
I would have liked to see gold try SS. He could have been really good
I’m not surprised to see Walker hit the road, but I thought Travis Henry would be the other big name. I sure hope Shanahan saw something that we’d didn’t as his seasson was lousy at best. Constantly injured. BLEH!!!
I’m sad and happy to see Lynch back. His best days have past and his pass covering abilities are suspect. But, he’s excatly what you want for a mentor. Now, just sign Rod as a wider receiver coach and I’ll really be happy.
How about LANCE BRIGGS? He is a great middlelinebacker and then Denver can put Williams back at outside. Please tell me Denver is looking to bring Lance Briggs in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Golds contract wasnt even up yet. Why didnt we trade him for a draft pick and save the cap penalties?
mcinley and thomas, dt with jarvis and dumervil,, we will be fine..
please get boley lb
the proven way to build a team is through the draft….think about it if the free agents were so good why isn’t their team choosing to keep them?….I wouldn’t let a player go if they played a major roll in the teams success, theres ways to restructure a contract and make it happen, so theres no such thing as a salary CAP casualty….you do what you gotta do to keep those guys its to hard to replace them and replace the chemistry….the guys on the market are expendable because they can be replaced, BOTTOM line…Javon, see ya later….later, later! Gold hate to see you go man, hope you do well on your next team, as long as it ain’t on an AFC west team….
how can u compare lelie to walker please…walkers first 2 games last year he had 17 catches and 220 yards…to lead the nfl…bad knee’s what can u say ask TD about that…would u all say he sucks and good..if he didnt win us superbowls just put up stats..im not comparing the two players just there injury….javon is the man..and went thru so much with dwill that takes more than a year to get ova u lames…..go ian and javon!! much luv and luck in the future.
damn we suck…we cant sign anyone…..look who already got signed….faneca gone, vilma gone, justin smith gone, shuan rodgers gone..just wait briggs will be gone soon probably to one of our rivals…denver just doesnt wanna spend the money…check out the other teams…how can the 49ers sign all these guys like Foster, bruce, smith, ect, after drafting #1 smith and Davis..then signing guys like clements and lewis to huge deals last year….how do they have the money and we dont have any to sign anybody….i pray we sign somebody….plus i just read that alot of teams are interested in Javon walker,,the niners,eagles,bucs, ect ect ect…why why couldnt we pull a trade at least for a one draft pick….not even a 7th rounder…what we didnt know people were interested…maybe would should look at the whole organization like rod said!
no i think were getting the russian dude niko blah blah blah from seattle what a joke..thats the big name of the off season!! what a joke!
i know how do the browns get both those dt’s and we get nothin….wow!! the browns are going to be solid on d next year…way better then we will be…its almost sac-religous im just saying its so frustrating….another year of getting ran on and onther year of wasting champs skills…..im hoping we go 18-0 but honestly i feel our team was better last year at this time….!
I think leave DJ in the middle. He was good last season and will be better next year. The samething happens in baseball you move a guy around from pos. to pos. and his productivity drops… Plus Briggs is an OLB. Its obvious we need help on the DL. Your LBs will always appear better when you have a DL to keep the blockers off them. A big guy like Stroud or Robertson would do that. Plus please quit asking to sign someone just for the sake of signing someone.
Now lets go get lance briggs
I will agree on that!!!!
Walker came to denver with plans to be the #1 Receiver. With his injury, and with Marshall stepping in and having such a great year, I think Javon realized he would not be the go to guy. He is a tallented Receiver and will do well with another team, providing he stays healthy. I wish him the best where ever he ends up.
Lance Briggs is a great player but I don’t think we should spend that type of money on another angry player. Just go after Boss Bailey. The first Bailey turned out pretty good, lets get a second. DJ did OK for a middle LB this year and with one more year and a (hopefully) better system from Slowik, we should be able to get that defense back on track. BTW, I am so happy to here that John Lynch is back. We have our thumper back.
Shanny: Sign Boss and resign Hamza Abdullah! Hes the best backup safety we have.
Seriously Get LANCE BRIGGS!!! My buddy is a Bears fan and he said that Briggs makes most of the plays, but gets over shadowed by Urlacher, we need a good LB! Sign Briggs NOW! And then go get Wilson back, heck yeah! Wilson, Briggs & D.J. in ’08 would be sick!!!
Javon is a good receiver but Brandon Stokley can take his place. Ian is a good linebacker tho and I think we will regret letting him go.
Jay Glazer, of FOXSports.com, reports the Jacksonville Jaguars have traded DT Marcus Stroud to the Buffalo Bills for third- and fifth-round draft picks.
shanny better have something up his sleave now that all the DTs are gone. Maybe he’s trying to get moss or briggs. either would be huge. Just hope we do something or we could be in trouble next year. Sammy knight would be a good addition but we should go after bigbe in green bay
Many of my bros here seem to be freaking out. I don’t know exactly how it works, but free agents are expensive and the Broncos seem to be creating cap room for…? Draft choices? If they can find starters among college free agents then can’t they draft nine guys this year who not only make the team, but compete for a starting job? I was afraid that Henry and Walker would be untradeable due to $$. So, what do you have to trade? All I’ve heard about is Domonique Foxworth. That doesn’t sound good to me. He and Paymah are the next up if either of the two starting corners go down. Foxworth also plays safety. He’s the kind of player to keep, like Hixon should have been kept. Is it possible that Fox was low-tendered as an inducement for a trade that didn’t happen? Maybe later they will pay him what he’s really worth to the team. Lance Briggs would be another great linebacker from Arizona, but he wasn’t happy when he was franchised for a lot of $$. Do you really want that kind of baggage in the lockerroom? Broncos have signed some good free agents before: Holland, Graham, Stokely, Ramsey, Winborn, Cargile, Ferguson, Leach, Mustard and Hall. They’ve shown that they can find players among the college free agents: Bell, Burton, Harris, Pears, Rogers and Young. Maybe it’s time to concentrate on younger players since there is already a nucleus of quality in their early to mid-twenties. Look at the Giants’ SuperBowl roster. Weren’t all of their ’07 draft choices on the team? Five of them made big plays in the game. The Broncos don’t seem to be that far off. If the D can come up with one plan…if ST can learn to run their lanes and block and tackle, etc. A good draft is needed. Need: fast WR, DT, S, T, LB, P & RB not necessarily in that order. Ahmad Bradshaw was the 250th player selected last year. Instead of the usual six college free agents, maybe the Broncos should increase that. Also, there comes a time when guys just run out of time. It happened to Rod Smith. It will even happen to the amazing Tom Nalen (who will immediately be deified just like Herakles). Apparently Lynch sees the value of sticking around and he’s a Stanford guy! The draft will be interesting.
Briggs agreed to terms with the bears
Holy crap why get rid of a starter like javon wat is wrong with them?
I can see getting rid of gold but y javon?
oh man!!!can we atleast sign Boss or Demarrio??both would be great,,plus dont get ur hopes up guys,Briggs jst signed an extension with the Bears..
lets get Bryant from Arizona……..
Adam Caplan, of Scout.com, reports the Kansas City Chiefs have reached an agreement on a five-year contract with free-agent LB Demorrio Williams (Falcons). The contract is worth a total of $16 million with $5.5 million guaranteed.
Tuna says he (taylor)is not, but who knows. Taylor is on the wring side of 30 and the picks we would have to give up are not worth it.
too baad,,(for Demarrio),,plz lets get Boss and Boley…
this is absolutely stupid. trade them!!!! god
DJ will get better this year and honestly Jamie Winborn played A LOT better than Gold and I have always been a Gold fan. There are some solid LB’s in the draft and they seem to do the best as rookies. I’m proud of the Broncos for always showing class. They let Javon and Gold go before FA so they could have a fair shot at Free Agency. I think if they would have kept them a couple more days we would have got a pick but they showed tremendous class as always. As long as Thomas, Crowder, Moss and Harris are in the weight room getting stronger we can add a few pieces and be a great D again. Build through the draft! Trade down from 12 and get some more picks unless some how DT Ellis falls. If you tivo’d the last games check out Jamie Winborn! He is a monster!!
Something interesting about the Chargers (who have been proposed as a model of how to build) is that they have brought in as many as 20+ college free agents to their training camp. Maybe the Broncos should do that. There are c.250 Div.I schools plus however many Div.II schools. You never know what a player is really like until you see him practice. Look at how many “surprises” there are at the Combine and those guys are only working out in shorts. Plus, they are a select group. When a player is in pads working out against proven NFL talent is when you really find out. That’s why coaches like preseason games. That’s why NFL Europa was cool. The Broncos have only brought in about six CFAs each of the past two years. Out of that group they have found Mike Bell, Antwon Burton, Mark Fenton, Steven Harris, Eric Pears, Rod Rogers and Selvin Young. So, why not bring in 24 CFAs? The only thing is, IF you are committed to a youth movement you must be ready to release older players. The cadre surrounding Cutler (Abdullah, Crowder, Dumervil, Foxworth, Hall, Harris, Kuper, Marshall, Moss, Myers, Paymah, Scheffler, Thomas and Williams) has about a five-year maximum window of opportunity. The time to build is now. Stop frittering away money on inflated free-agents. Guard the draft choices. Mine the talent pool of the College Free Agents.
didnt care about javon but we needed to cut webster not ian we hav to replace webster he sucked
So you all wanted to sign these big name free agents, just how do you expect us to pay for them? This was a WEAK free agent class and it shows, have you seen some of the contracts these free agents are getting? Lance Briggs 6 year, 36 mil, Gibril Wilson 6 year, 39 mill deal with 19.5 mill over the first 3 years, Justin Smith 6 year, 45 million, Bernard Berrium 7 year, 35 million or Donte Stallworth 6 year, 42 million. The Broncos are only about 10 million under the cap before we cut Gold and Walker which due to the guaranteed money they are owed will only added a 4-5 million to the equation. We still have to sign Elam for a year or two or do you want to save money and take a chance on a unproven college kicker or a journeyman kicker? We also still have our draft picks to sign. Also, all these trades that are going on, if the players are so good then why are they only getting 3rd’s and 5th’s for them? Marcus Stroud has been hurt the last two years with ankle/knee injuries and Shaun Rogers is inconsistent at best, lazy at worst. I don’t want to break the bank on one player when we have more than a few holes to fill or give up draft picks on unproven or often injured players.
we’ll see what colbert brings, however, what do you all think about trying out jabar gaffney?
glad they got released, never would have gotten value for them in a trade.. now with the freed up cap space theres more room the bring guys in and re-sign who we already have.. i think javon should be on the madden 09 cover cause everyone knows curse or not he’ll get injured again
UPDATE
HERE IS WHAT WE NOW KNOW
1 GABRIL WILSON IS NOW IN OAKLAND
2 TURNER THE BURNER IS A FALCON
3 BRIGGS’ DUMB ASS IS STAYING IN CHI TOWN
4 WE DIDNT GET STROUD OR ROGERS
5 WE DIDNT GET STALLWORTH (I DONT KNOW IF HE WOULD OF BEEN WORTH IT THOUGH)
6 WE SIGNED THAT GUY FROM CAROLINA COLBERT
7 WE NEED TO BRING BACK WILSON THE HEART AND SOUL OF OUR D
8 WE NEED A SAFETY TO REPLACE LYNCH FOR NEXT YEAR
9 WE NEED TO GET LINEBACKERS AFTER RELEASING HOLDMAN AND GOLD
10 WE NEED TO SOLIDIFY OUR D-LINE POINT BLANK PERIOD CAUSE IF WE CAN’T STOP THE RUN OR CONSTINTLY PUT PRESSURE AND THE QB WE WON’T BEAT ANYONE!!!
ALSO I THINK BRONCOMAGIC IS A GENIUS
Jazzyfrizzle, I can’t say that I would sign Jabar Gaffney. The only rreason that his name was mentioned this year is because Tom Brady knows how to distribute the ball. He was a 4th receiver for the pats and noone is going to sign him just because he had a few good plays last year. But I can’t say that I’m thrilled with siging of colbert either, as far as I’m concerned he hasn’t proven anything to anyone. Now if he comes out and is productive and has even a 45 catch season then I can say that it might have been a good addition