The Denver Broncos would obviously love to have free agent center Matt Paradis back. A recent update could be a reason for optimism.
The Denver Broncos have been heading toward an unfortunate parting of ways with center Matt Paradis.
Paradis, a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, has gone from the practice squad to one of the most important players on the team in short order. He started every single game from 2015-17 and was on his way to another season without missing a snap until a fractured fibula prematurely ended his 2018 campaign.
Because of Paradis’ consistency and ability (or willingness, at least) to play through injuries, it was expected he would price himself out of the Broncos’ range and head off to become the next highest paid center in the league.
The going rate right now is at least $10.5 million per year, by the way.
According to Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post, it might be time to pump the brakes a little bit.
A couple of execs think Paradis ends up back with #Broncos on one-year deal because of last year’s injury.
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) February 27, 2019
Selfishly, this would be awesome news for the Denver Broncos.
For Paradis, this would be a bummer.
There’s no doubt his agent is getting a feel for what teams would be willing to pay him at the Scouting Combine, which is a hub for free agency and trade rumors every single year.
If this is the word around the Combine from more than one person, you have to wonder if there are some serious legs to it.
If this situation were to play out, the Broncos would return four starters on their offensive line from this past year and would need only to fill their hole at right tackle.
Paradis has been one of the best centers in the league and I’m sure Mike Munchak would absolutely love to have a veteran like him making the calls going forward.
It would probably also be great for Joe Flacco to have a veteran like Paradis working things at the pivot.
This is a situation to monitor. Vic Fangio addressed the media and said the Broncos would ‘definitely’ like to have Paradis back and has said multiple times that John Elway would be updating everyone in more detail on his situation.
We’re all fascinated to hear what Elway has to say when he takes the podium.