Denver Broncos: Aqib Talib dominates in return to Tampa Bay

Denver Broncos star cornerback Aqib Talib was dominant against his former team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, picking off two passes in a big win…

How valuable has Aqib Talib been for the Denver Broncos?

After another — let’s call it ‘interesting’ — offseason, Talib has come out and picked off three passes this year, one he returned for a touchdown. Two of those interceptions came this past Sunday against his former team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It’s been a great opening month to the season for a guy that spent a lot of time this offseason recovering from a gunshot wound in his leg. There were a large number of Broncos fans on Twitter who were also calling for Talib to be cut because of him being a liability off the field.

There were also rumors that Talib could be suspended by the NFL, which I thought was bogus considering he hadn’t been charged with anything, and he was the one who got shot, regardless of rumors that he was the one who shot himself.

It’s just interesting to me that because of his reputation, he wasn’t given the benefit of the doubt…

At any rate, Talib is unquestionably a critical piece of the secondary in Denver and has proven his value in a number of ways already this season. He took away two passes from Jameis Winston on Sunday and head coach Gary Kubiak liked what he saw.

“He’s playing special. Obviously, he’s having a big year. We’re only one month into it, which is where you got to start. I had him talk to the team last night. Aqib was a hell of a player. He’s really turning into a leader and obviously played big today.”

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The combination of the pass rush up front for the Broncos and the ability of the secondary to lock down receivers has been a deadly combination this year. Talib allowed just one catch for six yards on Sunday and a passer rating of 0.0 into his coverage, per Pro Football Focus.

Talib’s dominant performance is another reminder that, on any given weekend, the Broncos can beat you with different players in their star-studded defense. It could be Talib one week, Chris Harris Jr. the next, and oh by the way — there’s this guy named Von Miller out there…

This season could prove to be a ‘contract’ year for Talib. The Broncos have him under their control for the next three seasons if they want, but the price to keep him goes up substantially after this year, and they can save $10 million by letting him go after this season.

As well as he has been playing, they might be willing to make that investment next year in order to keep this group together and see how long they can play at this high of a level.