Denver, CO – A snafu in paperwork has caused the Denver Broncos to release star defensive end Elvis Dumervil.
The Broncos said they had been negotiating with Dumervil and his agent for the past week, a deal that reportedly was to reduce his salary from $12 million for next season down to $8 million.
The problem was a 2 p.m. waiver wire deadline for Dumervil's contract paperwork to be submitted to the NFL. It was never met.
The Broncos said they submitted a final contract proposal to Dumervil at 11 a.m. local time and that they "clearly communicated to Elvis' representative" for a decision by 1 p.m., which was an hour before the league deadline.
The team said they were informed at 1 p.m. that Dumervil had rejected the offer and the team prepared a termination notice to release him.
But just 25 minutes later, Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway said Dumervil changed his mind and "accepted the same contract we proposed nearly two-and-a-half hours earlier. Although we expressed our concern regarding the time constraints, we were assured that the signed documents would be submitted to us before the league's waiver deadline."
Elway said when the documents were not received by the league's deadline the team was forced to release him.
Elway also confirmed salary cap implications are in place that the team must consider before potentially re-signing Dumervil. As of now, he's a free agent.
Dumervil had 11 sacks last season. He led the NFL with 17 sacks in 2009 and has 63 for his career.
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