Broncos sign DE Jarvis Green to 4 year deal
By John Livingston | March 9, 2010
In the year that Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has been with the organization one thing has been clear: he will do what it takes to sign talent from his former New England Patriots team. 
Today the Broncos signed former patriots defensive end Jarvis Green to a four-year deal worth a maximum value of $20 million with $7 million in guarantees. The deal will pay Green $4.5M in the first year and $7.5M over the course of the first two years.
Here is a snippet from ProFootballTalk.com:
The Broncos announced Tuesday they signed defensive end Jarvis Green, who played the first eight years of his career with the Patriots. New England was hoping to keep him.
Green won’t post splashy stats (he has three sacks the last two years), but he’s a rock solid rotation end in a 3-4 defense. The Broncos need competent warm bodies, and they’ve now added Justin Bannan and Green.
Green will mostly play on passing downs.
Like Bannan, who the Broncos signed this past weekend, Green will make for an excellent rotational line and will add talented depth to the Broncos front lines as he can play end and tackle in the Broncos defensive 3-4 scheme.
Green was a fourth round selection in the 2002 draft and last season he recorded 36 tackles (21 solo) with one sack.
The signing of Green makes it highly unlikely the Broncos will add Dwan Edwards, who would have played a similar type role on the squad.
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Kenyon Martin likely out until playoffs
By John Livingston | March 9, 2010
The Denver Nuggets have been riddled with small injuries since December, but any NBA team will sacrifice the little injuries all season if it means nobody goes down for a long stretch of the year.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, forward Kenyon Martin will now likely be out until the start of the NBA playoffs as he undergoes platelet rich plasma therapy for his ailing left knee.
Here is a snippet from the Denver Post detailing the therapy:
According to the website of the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail, where doctors have worked with Martin’s knee, PRP therapy is “an ‘autologous blood therapy’ that uses a patient’s own blood components to stimulate a healing response in damaged tissues. In response to an injury or tissue damage, your body naturally recruits platelets and white blood cells from the blood to initiate a healing response.”
This is undoubtedly bad news for the Nuggets, but far better than Martin requiring season ending knee surgery.
Martin, 32, was having one of his better seasons as a Nugget as he was averaging 11.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
The Nuggets, who were in need of another big man anyway, will have to scramble to find another big (something nearly impossible after the trade deadline) or come up with a system to utilize the players currently on the roster to fill the void.
Perhaps the most pivotal factor for the Nuggets will be the role that All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony plays from here on out. He needs to use his size and athleticism inside to collect rebounds. Martin also had the ability to cover the opposing team’s best inside player one-on-one and it will be important for Anthony to step up his all-around defense to take the slack off of his teammates who will be forced to double team a lot inside.
“I think everybody’s got to step up, everybody’s got to take a stab at his position,” said Anthony. “Sometimes, when Kenyon’s out there, we can let him play his man straight up and we don’t have to worry about anything. But now we all have to come together as a team and deal with that.”
Bottom line: Melo will definitely need to step up and assert his dominance.
The Nuggets are just 4-4 without Martin so far this season and having Nene, Martin and Chris Andersen healthy for most of the season has helped lead the Nuggets to the 42-21 record they currently have.
Johan Petro filled in for Martin in the Nuggets’ last home win against the Portland Trailblazers. Petro had 10 rebounds in his first start of the season.
Also expected to fill in for Martin will be Malik Allen and Joey Graham. Graham has filled in multiple times this year for a variety of Nuggets starters and has shown an ability to score and play a high level of defense.
However, the Nuggets are diving into the free agency pool and worked out Brian Cook and Jake Voskuh on Monday. The team is also reportedly interested in acquiring Mark Blount but obviously any bench player will have a hard time filling the spot that Martin leaves behind.
At least it sounds like Martin will be back in time for the playoffs. He is key to the team’s success and will absolutely need to be in the starting lineup in the playoffs if the Nuggets want to make that run at the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.
***The Denver Post’s Benjamin Hochman provided the quotes for this story
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On Tour Now - Brandon Marshall
By Drew Litton | March 8, 2010
Brandon Marshall is finding out the harsh reality of having a bad reputation and a me first attitude on the open market. couple that with the compensation the Broncos are demanding and therein lies the stalemate he finds himself in. That said, I’m sure Al Davis would be glad to have him. I for one advocated for getting rid of him long before this. Rumor has it that was one of the reasons for Shanahan’s dismissal at Dove Valley. He wanted nothing to do with the Brandon Marshall act any longer. I wonder why it took Bowlen this long to come around… (Read More…)
NT Jamal Williams Gets Physical with Denver Broncos
By Jeremy Glasoe | March 8, 2010
NFL Network’s Mike Lombardi reports that free agent NT Jamal Williams is already in Denver on Monday to take a physical.
Mike Lombardi on Twitter… @michaelombardi
DT Jamal Williams of formerly of San Diego is expected to be in Denver today to take a physical.
Shortly after, Vic Lombardi of CBS4 Denver, tweeted this… @VicLombardi
Yup…Jamal Williams visiting Dove Valley at this very moment. Can you imagine Williams and Bannan on the same D-line?
The Denver Broncos are looking to add beef to the trenches and have found it in the 6′3″ 348 lbs. Williams.
Williams has a meeting with the Saints lined up for later in the week, but the Broncos may not let him make it that far. The 34-year-old is close to Denver line coach Wayne Nunnelly from their time together in San Diego.
With the addition of former CU Buff Justin Bannan on Friday, the addition of Williams would bring 658 lbs. of meat to the Broncos defensive line, in just 2 players.
Where’s the Beef?
Programming Reminder: Nuggets to face Trailblazers on ESPN
By John Livingston | March 7, 2010
Tonight, the Denver Nuggets will look to add on to recent back-to-back wins when the Northwest Division rival Portland Trailblazers step into the Pepsi Center in the final game of the NBA’s Sunday basketball marathon.
The game starts at 8:30 pm MDT and can be seen on ESPN.
The two teams have split the season series 1-1 so far this season with the Blazers winning the Christmas day game and the Nuggets winning the first contest way back on Oct. 29.
The Nuggets are 14-2 at home since Jan. 5 and they are 11-1 against the Blazers at home in the Carmelo Anthony era.
Anthony is starting to find his rhythm again for the Nuggets as he has scored 30+ points in each of the previous two games. This is the first time he has scored 30+ in consecutive games since he recorded five in a row from Dec. 8 to Dec. 16.
NUGGETS NOTE: INJURIES STILL PLAGUING KEY NUGGETS
Kenyon Martin is likely out again tonight with his recurring left knee patella tendinitis. It sidelined him in last Friday’s game against Indiana and he will undergo an evaluation this Monday.
“If they tell me that it’s something more serious than I think it is and I got to get surgery, then I’ll have to do that,” Martin said.
Surgery would be terrible news for the Nuggets; Martin has played stellar basketball this season and is averaging 11.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
Joey Graham will fill in for Martin again. He is averaging 7.7 ppg in 17 starts this season in relief of Martin and Anthony, compared to 2.2 ppg in 30 games as a reserve.
Ty Lawson is questionable again and has missed the previous three games with a left shoulder contusion he suffered Feb. 28. If he is unable to go, Anthony Carter will once again serve as Chauncey Billups’ backup.