The Denver Broncos and left tackle Ryan Clady have begun talks towards a contract extension, Mike Klis of The Denver Post reports.
According to Klis, no deal is imminent, an indication that the two sides -- Broncos' Director of Administration Mike Sullivan and Clady's agent, Pat Dye -- are in the preliminary stages of their discussions. Clady is scheduled to earn $3.5 million in 2012, the final season of his five-year, $17.046 million rookie contract.
Selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, Clady has started all 66 regular and post-season games during his career. Despite suffering a torn patellar tendon in his left knee during the 2010 offseason, has missed just 15 regular season snaps (13 in 2010, two in 2011) over his four-year career. Clady earned All-Pro honors as a rookie and has gone to the Pro Bowl following the 2009 and 2011 seasons.
When healthy, Clady is an elite tackle and teams rarely let top players at that position hit unrestricted free agency. The Broncos currently have a bit of leverage in talks as they will have the option of using the franchise tag on Clady next offseason. This year's tag was worth $9.383 million in base salary. With the formula for determining the franchise tag now tied to a percentage of the salary cap, and the salary cap expected to remain flat, the tag for offensive linemen could actually drop to under $9.3 million in 2013.
