Demaryius Thomas says he wants to ‘finish a Bronco, retire a Bronco’
Denver Broncos star wide receiver Demaryius Thomas has his sights set on winning the Super Bowl after signing a five-year, $70 million deal.
Thomas, speaking at a news conference in Englewood, Colo., on Friday, said he "wanted to finish a Bronco, retire a Bronco" with negotiations now behind him.
"I still remember from draft day, I had no idea that I was going to be a Bronco," Thomas said. "From that day on, I said I was going to be the best that I could be to help this team win a Super Bowl or win a lot of games. So far, we haven‘t gotten the Super Bowl. We still have some work to do, and I look forward to working and getting a Super Bowl before I‘m done."
The 27-year-old Thomas had been designated as the team‘s franchise player. His deal, signed moments before Wednesday‘s deadline for franchise-tagged players, includes $43.5 million in guarantees.
"I want to lead the league in yards, touchdowns, basically about everything a receiver can do," Thomas said. "I kind of want to break the NFL record in yards. There‘s big plays to be made (in this offense)."
Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions owns the single-season mark with 1,964 yards set in 2012. Thomas ranks 15th all-time with 1,619 yards last season.
"I know (it‘s roughly 2,000 yards)," Thomas said. "If the first few games weren‘t bad this past year I would have got it."
Thomas said he was confident an agreement eventually would be made.
"No, I didn‘t (worry a deal would not get done)," Thomas said. "I kind of knew for a little while I was going to be a Bronco. … Kind of a week before they were going back and forth, I kind of knew."
Thomas, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, said Friday even if he had not agreed to a long-term deal, he would have played the 2015 season under the franchise player tender of $12.82 million.
"I wasn‘t going to sit out any games," he said.
The 6-foot-3, 229-pound Thomas has totaled 351 receptions for 5,317 yards, with 41 touchdowns in 69 regular-season games (55 starts) during his first five NFL seasons with the Broncos. The longest-tenured offensive player on the team‘s roster, Thomas was selected by the club in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft from Georgia Tech.
Thomas has three consecutive seasons with at least 92 catches, 1,430 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.
Starting every game for the Broncos in each of the last three seasons, Thomas ranks third in the NFL in receptions (297), second in receiving yards (4,483) and tied for second in receiving touchdowns (35).
Thomas was named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl in 2014 after setting a franchise record with 1,619 receiving yards and ranking second in team history with 111 catches.
On Monday, Thomas received the news his mother, Katina Smith, was one of 46 nonviolent drug offenders to have her sentence commuted by President Obama.
Smith and Thomas‘ maternal grandmother, Minnie Pearl Thomas, were arrested in 1999 for narcotics trafficking. Both had been in prison since Thomas was 11 years old. Smith was scheduled to be released in 2017, and Minnie Thomas received a life sentence for that crime and remains in prison.
Smith now is scheduled to be released on Nov. 10. Five days later, the Broncos play the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver.
Thomas said Friday his mother will go to a halfway house in Macon, Ga., in two weeks.
"I look forward for her coming to her first game," Thomas said. "It‘s (all) kind of breathtaking."
