Demaryius Thomas gets his long-term deal as well

It wasn't really collusion, but Demaryius Thomas needed Dez Bryant to set the market so he could get his own deal.

Less than an hour after reports came out that Bryant agreed to a five-year, $70 million deal with the Dallas Cowboys, news broke that Thomas got his own deal with the Broncos. For five years and $70 million, of course. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the deal was for $43.5 million guaranteed. Bryant got $45 million guaranteed. The Denver Post's Troy Renck said the deal has $35 million fully guaranteed over the first two years.

It makes sense the deals were almost identical, because Thomas and Bryant are very similar talents, going back to when they were drafted just a few picks apart in the 2010 NFL draft. Thomas has at least 90 catches, 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns in each of his last three seasons. He has benefited from playing with quarterback Peyton Manning, but Manning has certainly benefited from having Thomas as his No. 1 receiver as well.

The only franchise-tagged player who didn't get a multi-year contract on Wednesday, which was the deadline to sign tagged-players to a long-term deal, was New York Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, but that wasn't unexpected. Pierre-Paul's situation became very complicated after he injured his hand in a fireworks accident on July 4.