Today, the Broncos parted ways with 31-year-old defensive lineman Kenny Peterson, who will undoubtedly be joined by other teammates in the defensive trenches from a season ago. Peterson signed a three-year deal a season ago with Denver and started all 16 games for the organization. However, he was largely ineffective with 40 tackles and just one sack.

This past week, the Broncos have added Jarvis Green, Justin Bannan and Jamal Williams–all three are expected to start on the Broncos line, giving the defensive front a complete makeover.

That means many players from last year had to go and Peterson was the first. This was perhaps surprising at first due to the relationship Peterson had with McDaniels as the two were teammates at McKinley High School. The two visibly bonded last year at summer training camp at Dove Valley and fans will remember their embrace after McDaniels fist pumping celebration after the team defeated the New England Patriots last season.

Perhaps it was their strong relationship that led to Peterson being cut now, as opposed to half-way through camp this summer. Now, Peterson has a full opportunity to try and land a new team, if there are any suitors.

This stands out to me as a move that shows McDaniels is willing to do anything to win and he means business. Personal ties and friendships cant stand in the way of the business that the NFL is and if you want to win, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get better, even if it means saying goodbye to a friend.

Expect many more Denver defensive lineman to be fighting for their Broncos lives when training camp rolls around and, already, a few names stand out as future cuts.

First, Marcus Thomas and Jarvis Moss both seem to be likely players to be on the outside looking in. The Broncos have made it clear that they want big defensive lineman that can play the nose tackle position, something Thomas simply has not fit. Moss spent much of last season as a healthy scratch and watched most games from the sidelines. He has never developed into the player fans had expected the former first round pick to be.

BRONCOS BONUS AND ONE MORE CUT:
Broncos waived offensive lineman Mitch Erickson. Erickson, who was on the Broncos practice squad the past two seasons, was a pickup by Mike Shanahan in 2008 and, like many Shanahan holdovers, does not fit the new power-blocking scheme Josh McDaniels is switching to. It is expected he may land back with Shanahan in Washington.

Denver also reportedly gave wide receiver Brandon Lloyd a $500,000 signing bonus to go with his new two-year contract. This likely signals that the Broncos plan on using Lloyd more in the offense next season, especially if the team is missing a certain big name receiver.

Prater, who was an exclusive rights free agent, had a stellar season last year hitting on 85.7 percent of his field goal attempts (30-35). This was a great improvement from the season before when he was just 25-35, 73.5 percent.

He also hit on all 32 extra point attempts and was great for the Broncos on kickoffs, recording 28 touchbacks on 78 kickoffs in 2009.

He has done a solid job of replacing the void Jason Elam left behind in 2007 and if he continues to improve there is reason to believe he will be kicking for the Broncos for a long time to come.

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Adam Schefter on twitter…

Filed to ESPN: After signing DE Jarvis Green earlier, Broncos agreed to a three-year deal with former San Diego DT Jamal Williams.

This from NFL.com…

Veteran DT Jamal Williams will join the Broncos, who continue to beef up their defensive line through free agency, NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi reported Tuesday.

Williams was released by the Chargers last week after 12 seasons together. During that time, Williams made three Pro Bowls.

Earlier in the day, the Broncos signed DE Jarvis Green, who played for current Denver coach Josh McDaniels in New England.

After a quiet weekend at Dove Valley, which left Broncos fans wondering what the next signing would be with a stable full of potential defensive lineman parading through Denver. Josh McDaniels lands two big bodies within a couple hours on Tuesday. The run defense has been addressed, especially when you add the signing of Justin Bannan on Friday.

Williams, formerly of the Chargers is a big 6′3″ 348 lbs. NT and if healthy he will be a huge run-stuffing presence in the middle of the Broncos defense.

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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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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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…)

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?

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.

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Colorado freshman Alec Burks was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year Saturday night–this coming just hours after he set the Colorado freshman scoring record at 487, surpassing Richard Roby (480). Burks set the record during the Buffaloes 101-90 home victory against Texas Tech when he scored 24.

Burks had a stellar season as he helped lead the Buffs to a 15-15 record; he averaged a conference high for freshman 16.8 points per game, which ranked seventh overall in the conference. He also led the Big 12 in field goal percentage as he shot 53.6 percent from the field. Burks showed he was an intelligent freshman, taking smart shots and getting high percentage looks inside.

His absence was severely missed when he injured his back in the first minute of a road loss to Iowa State this year–he was unable to play the following home game against then #1 in the country, Kansas. It was a game the Buffs eventually lost in overtime in front of a highly enthused crowd and one had to believe that if Burks was healthy he would have given the Buffs the necessary lift to pull off what would have been a monumental upset.

Burks was also named to the All-Rookie Team and was an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 selection.

Junior teammate Cory Higgins was selected to the All-Big 12 Third Team for the second consecutive year; he averaged 19 points per game, ranking him third in the conference. In the Big 12, one of the deepest conferences in the nation, it is quite an accomplishment for Higgins to be selected again, especially on a team in the bottom third of the conference.

Higgins also climbed his way into the Top-10 on the all-time scoring list for the Buffaloes. He scored 30 points in Saturday’s win as he continues to lead this Colorado team.

The Buffaloes will play Texas Tech again on Wednesday in the first round of the conference tournament. A win could mean an invitation to the NIT or CBI tournaments for the Buffaloes, who haven’t made a postseason tournament since the 2006 NIT.

The Buffs are the eighth seed in the Big 12 Tournament and Texas Tech is the ninth seed.

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It’s Your Turn Denver!!

George Karl has given so much to the City of Denver and to the whole Nuggets organization. Time to leave him some sentiments here on the blog. We’ll make sure he see’s them. Side by side let’s get together and LIVESTRONG with George. A big thanks to my former Rocky colleague Paul Keebler. It was his idea to put a card like this we could sign online. So start leaving those comments… (Read More and Leave Comments here…)