Denver Broncos Sign Former AFC West Star Running Back Jamaal Charles
By Steven Kriz
The Denver Broncos have added former Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles to the fold, signing him to a contract Tuesday.
The Denver Broncos have signed former Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles to remain in the AFC West, Tuesday. This is yet another move in adding dynamic play makers to what was a very lethargic offense in 2016. In last weekends draft, the Broncos added multiple home-run hitters to their offense in Carlos Henderson, Jake Butt, Isaiah McKenzie and De’Angelo Henderson.
The Broncos message on offense this offseason—get mean in the trenches, get fast on the perimeter. Jamaal Charles fits right in with this philosophy.
Broncos and Jamaal Charles now have agreed to terms, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 2, 2017
The #Broncos have struck a deal with RB Jamaal Charles for 1 year, up to $3.75M, source said
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 2, 2017
When healthy, the 30-year old Charles has made a career terrorizing AFC West foes such as the Broncos. In 103 career games the veteran has rushed for 7,260 yards in his career and 5.5 yards per carry. His finest season came in 2013 as he rushed for 1,287 yards and a career high 12 touchdowns. Not only that, he added 70 catches for 693 yards and 7 touchdowns. Charles’ one knock is his ability to stay healthy. He has suffered two torn ACL’s in his career—one in 2011, and the other in 2015. Charles bounced back remarkably from the first one in 2012. However, 2016 saw lots of complications from the knee injury. He was limited to only 3 games, and was completely ineffective before shutting it down for the year.
The Broncos have been interested in Charles for some time, but they clearly wanted to see how the draft shook out first. Sources have indicated that the Broncos did try and trade up during the second round to select Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon, however they weren’t able to get in front of Cincinnati and ended up selecting Demarcus Walker instead. The Broncos have seemingly not been impressed by C.J. Anderson and want to add more pop to that position. Once they left the draft with an immediate upgrade at that position, they turned to Charles.
From all indications Charles has been working out vigorously in an attempt to make it back. A video released last week shows Charles on the comeback path, and looked mighty impressive doing it.
Clearly the Broncos were impressed enough by his progress after giving him a physical Tuesday to offer him a contract. The Broncos now feature a potential skill player rotation of:
QB: Paxton Lynch
RB: Jamaal Charles
RB: Devontae Booker
FB: Andy Janovich
WR: Demaryius Thomas
WR: Emmanuel Sanders
Slot/WR: Carlos Henderson
Any one of those players can take the ball to the house at any given time, and that is what the Broncos are hoping to be able to pair with their nasty offensive line. The Broncos would like to punish teams in the run game, and run circles around them in the pass game. Charles fits this mold as both a great runner inside and outside the tackles, and also a great receiver out of the backfield.
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As for C.J. Anderson’s future with the team, it is murky at best. It’s out there that the Broncos are none too pleased with Anderson. While an outright release may not happen, a trade wouldn’t be surprising in the least. With Jamaal Charles now in the mix, and Devontae Booker a draft pick a year ago, it would seem that Anderson is the odd man out. As a result, certainly don’t be surprised to see Anderson traded. While they could keep him around for insurance in case Charles gets injured again, trading him would rid them of $3 million against the cap. While his cap number is very manageable, the less the better, as cap space can be carried over from year to year.
Jamaal Charles as the newest Bronco makes as much sense as any move they’ve made this year. As with any move, there is ample risk involved. However, the reward with Charles should be a great one. With a training staff that is second to none, and a plethora of offensive weapons around him, Charles should have as good a shot to stay healthy in Denver as anywhere. Furthermore, orange is much more appealing to the eye then red, so a change of scenery may be just what Jamaal Charles needs.
The Broncos goal in 2017 is a Super Bowl, and surrounding Paxton Lynch with as many home-run hitters as possible is the only way that will be possible. Jamaal Charles is just that—a home-run hitter, and an all-time great one. However, the best thing of all will be seeing him hitting home-runs for the good guys this time around. May the force be with defensive coordinators league-wide.