The Denver Broncos could be looking to make some moves at the trade deadline, potentially a big one involving Demaryius Thomas.
The Denver Broncos and the rest of the NFL are preparing for Tuesday’s trade deadline, and Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas could be among the biggest names moved to another city.
Thomas was pretty forthcoming about the trade rumors after the Broncos’ loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, saying he didn’t think he would have been traded at all had the Broncos won. He classified his chances of being traded as ’50-50′, but he might have been downplaying things because he also jokingly said he thought maybe the team didn’t want him breaking all of the all-time receiving records.
Despite already being in the league for nine years, Thomas is still just 30 years old. A lot of people seem to be treating him as if he’s in his late-30s or something, but while Thomas may not have sub 4.3 speed as he did coming out of Georgia Tech, he’s developed great route running abilities and is still a very good, effective player.
So what’s the latest with Thomas and the Broncos, then? Vance Joseph’s tune seems to have changed quite a bit.
This is a lot different than Joseph's answer yesterday when asked if the KC game was it for Thomas: “No, I do not believe so. I have not been told that. DT had a good week of work. He played hard today. He is all in with us. I have not heard that.”https://t.co/YKK2w0RLQR
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 29, 2018
When asked if Thomas was still in Denver (or more specifically, Broncos headquarters), Joseph responded by saying, “Right now, he is.”
The general vibe right now seems to be that the Broncos will trade Thomas. That is going to send a dagger straight to the heart of many fans given the impact Thomas has made on the organization since 2010.
Thomas does not seem to be in any rush to get out of Denver but understands certain things are out of his control. There is demand for his services and with a huge cap number looming in 2019, the Broncos probably figure they should get an asset or two for him while they can, otherwise they will risk having to cut him for nothing just to get in a reasonable position financially.
With multiple teams likely calling, the Broncos have to weigh the option of trading Thomas at this point and the potential benefit of getting a day two draft pick for him might be enticing enough to part ways.
If teams are only offering the Broncos mid-late round picks, it’s an insult and they should have stopped taking the calls long ago. The fact that they are not necessarily desperate to trade Thomas and that there are multiple teams vying for his services seems to indicate the return value could be pretty solid.