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Denver Broncos Agree To Terms With 7th Rounder Chad Kelly

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (The Sports Xchange) - The Denver Broncos reached an agreement on a four-year rookie deal with quarterback Chad Kelly, who was dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant" as the 253rd and final pick of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The former Ole Miss quarterback is due about $2.5 million over four years and has an estimated cap hit of $481,067 this year, the Denver Post reported Wednesday.

Kelly, ranked the 10th-best quarterback prospect by NFLDraftScout.com, is the nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly and was in the news during his career at Ole Miss for his exploits on and off the field.

Memphis v Mississippi
Chad Kelly of the Mississippi Rebels celebrates after a game against the Memphis Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Oxford, Mississippi. (credit: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

On the field, Kelly passed for 6,800 yards and 50 touchdowns in two seasons for the Rebels. In 2016 before suffering the knee injury in November, Kelly threw for 2,758 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

In 2015, Kelly led the SEC with 4,042 passing yards and 31 touchdowns.

Off the field, there is some baggage accompanying Kelly.

In 2014, he was dismissed from the team at Clemson for "detrimental conduct." In 2015, he was involved in fight outside a Buffalo nightclub and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Last year, Kelly went onto the field at his brother's high school football game in upstate New York when a fight broke out.

The 6-foot-2, 228-pound Kelly also has some injuries with which to deal -- including wrist surgery last month and a torn ACL in November. The wrist injury will prevent him from being able to throw until training camp in July.

With the Broncos, Kelly will compete with Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch at quarterback for a shot to follow his uncle into the NFL.

The Broncos also reached an agreement with sixth-round rookie running back De'Angelo Henderson.

The 5-7, 208-pound speedster out of Coastal Carolina, was drafted at No. 203 and is slated to earn $2.55 million over four years, with a $501,288 salary cap hit for 2017, the Denver Post reported.

Henderson had a productive college career in which he scored in 35 consecutive games, setting a Division I record. He rushed for more than 1,100 yards in each of his last three seasons and totaled 4,635 in his career at Coastal Carolina.

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