Denver Broncos: Team is high on Tramaine Brock for 2018

The Denver Broncos may have some competition at cornerback this offseason, but the team is apparently high on free agent acquisition Tramaine Brock…

In a recent mailbag article on DenverBroncos.com, Andrew Mason was asked whether or not Denver Broncos rookie cornerback Isaac Yiadom would challenge for the third cornerback spot in his first NFL season.

While Mason acknowledged the possibility, he also reminded us all of free agent acquisition Tramaine Brock, who signed a one-year contract with the Broncos this offseason.

The Broncos essentially guaranteed Brock’s roster spot with a $1 million signing bonus and a guaranteed $2 million salary.

That is not exactly the veteran minimum, especially for a player that hasn’t played significant snaps since 2016.

Mason said in his article that the Broncos are ‘high’ on Brock’s ability to contribute, noting that Vance Joseph said earlier in the offseason that he could contend for snaps with Bradley Roby.

Unless Brock experiences a complete revival of his career, the Broncos should be looking for ways to get Yiadom and Brendan Langley out onto the field or even a guy like Marcus Rios who was an undrafted free agent in 2017.

When Brock last played on a full-time basis in 2016, he flashed his upside at times but gave up far too many touchdowns in coverage and didn’t play hardly at all after he was traded from the Seahawks to the Vikings in 2017.

A couple of months ago, we wrote why Brock could be an underrated pickup by the Broncos, and everything in this post remains true today.

While Brock allowed six touchdowns in coverage in 2016, he also allowed less than 50 percent of the passes thrown his direction to be completed. He also does a good job of playing the run.

The Broncos may feel like their front seven is good enough that Brock will not have to hold coverage as long as he did in 2016 with the 49ers, whose pass rush was not exactly anything to write home about as they used their top pick in the 2017 NFL Draft on a player — Solomon Thomas — who could help provide some pressure.

Still, giving up six touchdowns is an alarming number. If the Broncos are high on Brock, they must feel like a few of those touchdowns were not entirely on Brock.

They let go of Aqib Talib this offseason primarily for financial reasons, but also because Talib is likely on the back end of his career age-wise.

Brock is 30 this season so the Broncos aren’t gaining a whole lot in terms of age, and his injury history is also more extensive.

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The risk involved in signing a player like Brock was definitely not too high given his salary and the ability he’s shown throughout his career. Given more snaps, perhaps he can return to being a very effective cornerback.

We know John Elway doesn’t really make many bad moves when it comes to free agency, and no matter how things work out with Brock, the price was not so high that it would be looked at as regrettable. But if the Broncos make a mistake by clinging onto Brock while he struggles (if that is the case) and fail to get valuable reps for their young players, it will be a problem.