The Denver Broncos traded wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to the Houston Texans. What did they get in return for one of the franchise’s greats?
The Denver Broncos have traded one of the best wide receivers in team history — Demaryius Thomas — to the Houston Texans.
The long-rumored move has finally come to fruition as the Texans met the Broncos’ trade demands and picked up some much-needed help at receiver with wide receiver Will Fuller going down for the 2018 season with a knee injury.
How did this trade come together? Let’s look at the compensation on both sides.
In addition to the 2019 NFL Draft capital, the Broncos also receive significant relief on their 2018 and 2019 salary cap.
Trading Thomas on Tuesday frees up a little more than $4 million in 2018 cap space for the Broncos and $14 million in base salary for the 2019 cap.
That is a significant amount of cap space for a team that desperately needs it, given their huge cap numbers for Case Keenum and Von Miller next year.
After watching the Oakland Raiders get a first-round pick for Amari Cooper, much of Broncos Country is outraged that Thomas fetched only a fourth-round pick, but that’s the unfortunate diminished value with a player who is going to cost a team nearly $20 million over the next two years.
The Texans’ desperate need likely drove the value up a bit, but Thomas’ high price tag evened things out.
The Broncos will now look to rookies Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton along with first-year player Tim Patrick to carry the load at wide receiver. Jordan Taylor is also close to a return to the field.
Despite the fact that Thomas is a team legend and will be in the Ring of Fame as soon as he’s done playing, this was the right move for the Broncos, who would have probably had to release Thomas at season’s end anyway.