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John Elway: Demaryius Thomas holdout has 'zero value' to getting extension

Eric Edholm

It was a tiny bit uncomfortable for John Elway the former Denver Broncos player to talk about the holdout of a player he now governs as John Elway the Broncos vice president of football operations/general manager.

As the latter now, Elway believes that franchise-tagged wide receiver Demaryius Thomas staying away from offseason activities for now in lieu of a contract extension is a bad idea. Of course Elway does.

"To be dead honest with you, I see absolutely zero value with him being away from here — zero value for him," Elway said at the Broncos' pre-draft press conference. "There's no value for him not to be here with his teammates, so as far as negotiations and him and a new deal and what's going on, we'd like to get something done. But by him being away from here, there is zero value not only to us, but to him. To me it makes no sense."

How much value is that? Zero value. ("It's like how much more black can it get? And the answer is none — none more black.")

The Broncos placed the tag on Thomas, which would guarantee him a one-year tender salary of $12.8 million for 2015, and that would be roughly what Thomas has made combined in his first five NFL seasons. No doubt it's a big raise. But NFL players seek the security — and bigger guaranteed money — of long-term contracts. 

Thomas told Shutdown Corner at the Super Bowl that he planned to let his nagging ankle injury from last season continue to heal, so perhaps that's added motivation to skip the Broncos' workouts — plus Peyton Manning's offseason throwing sessions, which was attended by other Broncos receivers, at Duke University.

But Elway was emphatic — not empathetic — on the idea that injury would be an adequate reason not to attend.

"That makes no sense to me, him not getting hurt? ... If he gets hurt here, he's covered [by injury protection]. If he gets hurt somewhere else, he's not," Elway said. "So tell me why that makes sense that he wouldn't be here working out with us. It's why I don't understand it at all. That's part of the game, but it makes no sense for him not to be here."

Thomas has put up huge numbers the past few seasons and clearly views himself as an elite receiver who should be due an elite receiver contract. With Manning perhaps in his swan-song season, Thomas knows his numbers could drop off after this season until the Broncos figure out Manning's long-term replacement — or they might never get back to the level he has been at.

Elway would like to talk to Thomas about this negotiation. But he wants it to be face to face, with Thomas joining his teammates, not staying away with the hope that distance will up his value.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!