Denver Broncos: Trading for Trent Williams has to be an option

The Denver Broncos are not happy with the way Garett Bolles has played. A trade for Trent Williams has to be discussed as a legitimate option.

Because the Denver Broncos restructured Joe Flacco’s contract, a trade for Washington Redskins left tackle Trent Williams is no longer impossible financially.

The Broncos also are clearly not happy with the way their current left tackle — Garett Bolles — has been playing. They are fed up with his inability to take coaching and play by the rules of the game.

In his most recent column for Sports Illustrated, NFL insider Albert Breer highlighted Bolles as one of five players in the spotlight this week, noting that, “It’s pretty clear the team is not pleased with Bolles’ holding issue…”

Ironically, the main chunk of Breer’s latest piece is how rare big, blockbuster-type trades used to be in the NFL, and how they are happening more and more frequently in today’s NFL.

Teams are more willing to part with their premiere draft choices, and players are more willing to just sit out and not play for teams they don’t want to play for. That appears to be the case with Williams in Washington, similar to the way it was for Su’a Cravens once upon a time.

Williams’ gripe with the Redskins is nothing contractual. It seems to have everything to do with the way he was treated by the team working back from injuries.

Up to this point, the Redskins have made no indications they are willing to trade Williams, but that could change as the season goes along here.

Veteran Donald Penn is currently working as the Redskins’ starting left tackle and trying to hold the fort down there, but Williams is obviously an exceptional player and one of the best in the NFL at that position.

If he’s not going to play for the Redskins, they would probably be willing to entertain the idea of getting some actual value in return for him.

The Denver Broncos should get an offer out there.

John Elway has done a couple of pretty big trades with the Redskins, including trading them their current starting quarterback Case Keenum this past offseason after working for about a month or so to get a trade for Su’a Cravens completed.

Could Elway strike up another deal for Williams before this year’s deadline?

If Garett Bolles doesn’t turn things around, he probably has to try.

The Broncos probably can’t really give up their first-round pick at this point. So what could they offer for a player like Williams? Thankfully, Washington’s only leverage right now is that they’re saying they won’t trade him, but we all know every player has a price.

Williams says he’s not showing up for the Redskins, which thwarts their leverage.

Would an offer of a 2020 second-round pick and Garett Bolles be enough to get Williams from the Redskins? Could the Broncos perhaps add another mid-round pick to sweeten the pot?

Is it even worth it?

Yes, it is.

Williams is still just 31 years old. He’s not a young buck but he should be able to play at least another 4-5 years at a very high level. That’s worth the price of a higher draft choice if you are getting elite left tackle play.

The Broncos have had too many issues with Bolles averaging a penalty per game in his NFL career.

One of the big arguments I see on Twitter all the time is that the Broncos ‘are not a left tackle away’ from competing. First of all, how do we know that? How do we know what kind of an impact a legit left tackle would have on this team?

What if the Broncos had no holding penalties from the left tackle position this past week instead of four? What if Joe Flacco had a clean pocket to throw from on most every third-down play?

The ripple effect of adding one player can turn things around for an entire team. A player like Williams could have a profound impact on the Broncos now and going forward as they not only give Flacco a chance to get them back to the playoffs, but also work Drew Lock into the mix at some point.

There is perhaps nothing more valuable for the Broncos in their current state than to have stable left tackle play, so why not make a fair offer for Williams?

What about the financial impact?

The Broncos currently have over $12.1 million in cap space. Williams’ base salary is about $8.4 million for the 14 weeks remaining in the NFL season after this week, and it goes down by more than $500,000 every week.

So, the Broncos could afford Williams and he would also be under contract through next season.

Although the Broncos are not seemingly ‘one piece’ away from contending at this point, having an elite left tackle on the roster is one of the most difficult pieces to find. If Williams is available, John Elway needs to make that call and see if he can’t figure something out, especially with the newfound cap space the team has.