ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --On Sunday, the Broncos locked up the left side of the line.
Left tackle Ryan Clady and the club agreed to terms on a 5-year deal, keeping him in orange and blue through the 2017 season.
The club had previously placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Clady. It marks the second consecutive season the Broncos have placed the tag on a player before agreeing on a new long-term deal -- kicker Matt Prater was the previous recipient.
Clady is entering his sixth season with the team after being selected with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot-6, 315-pound Boise State product is just the fourth offensive lineman in NFL history to start every game and make three Pro Bowls during his first five seasons in the league.
His third Pro Bowl berth came just last season, when he started all 16 of the team's regular-season games for the fifth consectutive season and allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL -- 1.0 -- among 16-game starting tackles.
In 2011, he helped the club lead the NFL in rushing with a team-record 164.5 yards per game.
Clady's 80 regular-season starts make him one of just three members of his 2008 NFL Draft class -- along with quarterback Joe Flacco and cornerback Brandon Carr -- to start every game during the first five years of their career.
A three-time All-Pro, Clady did not allow a full sack in his first 20 starts, according to Stats, Inc. That was the longest such streak by a tackle to begin his career since at least 1994.
In 2010, Clady was presented with Denver's Ed Block Courage Award after recovering from an offseason knee injury to start all 16 games.
