AP

Remember that Elvis Dumervil salary reduction news from earlier on Friday?

It might be time to forget all about that. Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports that the Broncos have released Dumervil after they did not get his paperwork regarding the reduction in salary from $12 million to $8 million until after the 2 p.m. MT deadline that made his original salary guaranteed.

According to Klis, the Broncos received the fax from Dumervil at 2:07 p.m. MT, seven minutes and one second after the Broncos had to pull the trigger to release Dumervil and avoid being on the hook for the full $12 million. The team could still re-sign Dumervil, but there would be different salary cap ramifications because Dumervil’s contract ran beyond the 2013 season.

So a settled situation that looked like another offseason win for the Broncos and John Elway has suddenly turned into a mess. They’ve got no Dumervil and will now have to scramble to find a way to bring him back or convince another free agent pass rusher to join their defense.

Never a dull moment in the NFL and, perhaps, a final sign that the fax machine is far from the most reliable way to be conducting business in 2013.