Aqib Talib didn’t want to leave the Denver Broncos

Aqib Talib will officially be a former member of the Denver Broncos on Wednesday, and he talked about his departure and relationship with the team…

Say what you will about Aqib Talib, but there’s a reason he was one of the most beloved players on the Denver Broncos among his teammates.

Talib talked with NFL Network’s James Palmer about his time with the Broncos, his exit, his relationship with the team, and finishing out his career with his new team, the Los Angeles Rams.

There are some great sound bites in here:

There are a lot of rumors that float around among certain sects of Broncos Country that John Elway has a poor relationship with his players, or that the Broncos are not a good team to work for, or whatever other garbage rumor you want to throw out there.

This clearly dispels that.

Talib definitely sounds like a guy who was proud to wear the orange and blue, proud to work for John Elway, and proud to be part of the history of the Broncos organization.

He even said himself, he didn’t want to leave.

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There’s a misconception going around that the Denver Broncos are not a desirable organization for free agents anymore, and I don’t think that could be further from the truth.

The Broncos had incredible success defensively with Talib manning one side of the field. Their secondary instantly became one of the NFL’s best upon his and Bradley Roby‘s arrival in 2014, combined with the emergence of Chris Harris Jr. and the additions from 2014-15 of T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart.

Talib did confirm, sadly, that the ‘No Fly Zone’ is ‘in the books’ which makes sense. Even without Ward in the fold, it just didn’t feel the same. Without Ward and Talib, it’s definitely not the No Fly Zone as we once knew it.

Talib’s departure marks the end of an era, and I appreciate and respect the way he’s leaving. He understands the business side of things, and he’s not hurt by it. He had some great years in Denver, won a championship, and established himself — in my opinion — as one of the best cornerbacks to ever play the game.