ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Bradley Roby’s slip down the draft board surely will cost him a few million dollars. He swears he doesn’t care.
The star cornerback from Ohio State said he’s glad he’s going to play for the AFC champion Denver Broncos and not a rebuilder anyway.
After all, he changed his mind about going to Vanderbilt in 2010 in large part because the Commodores “didn’t win enough.”
“I told you I’m a winner. I hate to lose,” Roby said Friday at his introductory news conference at the Broncos headquarters. “That’s why I fit in here so much because I have a winner’s mentality.”
Another thing that lured him to Columbus was his switch from wide receiver to defensive back, and Ohio State has a rich tradition of sending elite cornerbacks to the NFL.
After redshirting his first year, Roby started 13 games in 2011 and was a second-team All-American by 2012 with the type of season that could have been worth about $15 million over four years as a top-10 NFL pick.
Roby earned All-Big Ten honors last season and was projected as a top-15 pick but Broncos boss John Elway figures a pair of off-field issues caused him to fall to Denver at 31.
Elway said he was thrilled to see Roby available. After all, he made transforming his secondary one of his major priorities this offseason as he tweaked a roster that reached the Super Bowl but came up short against Seattle.
He let Champ Bailey and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie leave via free agency and brought in cornerback Aqib Talib and strong safety T.J. Ward.
Roby’s slide down the draft board will probably end up costing him about $3 million as he’s expected to get a four-year deal in the $7 million range now.
As he slid, he looked at the bright side, though.
“OK, you didn’t go very high. But you’re going to a great team,” Roby said.
And he insisted the smaller payday won’t be a big deal, either.
“I don’t really play for money,” Roby said. “I’ve never really played for money before. I’ll have money now (but) it’s not about that to me. It’s all about winning.”
The Broncos have gone 28-7 since Peyton Manning’s arrival two years ago.
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