Elway: "We want to keep all of our own football players."

John Elway spoke to us via conference call moments ago, discussing the re-signing of wide receiver Demaryius Thomas.

Our Brandon Spano asked Elway how the negotiations with Demaryius will impact future contracts. “We want to keep all of our own football players, we’ll have a plan for Von next year. With a hard cap we won’t be able to do that with everyone, but we want to hold on to as many as we can.”

Demaryius has certainly proven his worth as a wideout, but Elway said it’s more than just what a player can do on the field. “Thats definitely a part of the decision making process. Because when you give this kind of money to a player, you want to make sure he’s the kind of player you want not only on the field but off as well.”

Elway is thrilled that Demaryius will be a Bronco for the next five years, but they need to be cautious with the time he has missed this offseason. “There’s a business side to this, we’ll just have to be carful with DT entering training camp. We’re going to have to monitor that closely so we can get him up to speed and don’t take any unnecessary risks.

The Broncos open training camp on July 31st, and number 88 will be back on the field at Dove Valley for that, and many years to come.