After completing the final season of a four-year, $36.7 million contract, Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March. The 29-year-old defensive lineman knows he’s not going to get a monster contract and he doesn’t expect one — he doesn’t want to sign a bargain offer, either.
“It’s about being fair, that’s what it’s about,” Wolfe said on Dec. 30. “I’m not trying to break the bank anywhere. If I have to go somewhere else, I’m not trying to break the bank there either. It’s all about what’s fair. I’m not trying to be top of the market and I’m not trying to be bottom of the market either.”
Wolfe was selected by Denver in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft out of Cincinnati. He recorded a career-high seven sacks in 12 games last season before suffering an elbow injury.
Wolfe hopes to re-sign with the Broncos but he understands it might not work out that way.
“I want to retire here, but I also don’t want to seem desperate,” Wolfe said. “It’s one of those things where I’ve said it so many times before, this is a business.
“The business has to do what’s best for the business. If what’s best for the business is keeping me here, then I’m ecstatic about that. If what’s best for the business is me leaving, that sucks, but it is what it is. It’s a business.”
Wolfe has totaled 299 tackles and 33 sacks over the last eight years.
