The Denver Broncos made a trade, acquiring veteran cornerback AJ Bouye from the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
The Denver Broncos, for the second consecutive offseason, have made a trade prior to the start of the new league year involving a fourth-round draft pick.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports the Broncos have traded a fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for starting cornerback AJ Bouye.
Considering that the cornerback position is one of the Broncos’ primary areas of concern this offseason, the addition of Bouye is a big first step for the team in 2020.
Here is the report from Schefter.
The Broncos and Jaguars have agreed on a trade that would send cornerback A.J. Bouye to Denver for a 2020 fourth-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2020
The trade cannot be processed until the new league year begins March 18th.
This trade is a great one for the Broncos, who gave up the second of their two fourth-round draft picks to acquire Bouye.
If Klis is right and this reduces Chris Harris Jr.’s chances of returning to the Broncos, it is a bittersweet move.
Bouye has eight interceptions over the last three seasons since joining the Jaguars as a free agent in 2017. He was an undrafted star for the Houston Texans who wound up vastly out-playing his rookie contract.
He lived up to his big money free agent status in year one with Jacksonville, picking off six passes and helping the Jaguars — with Blake Bortles at QB — reach the AFC Championship game.
Now he comes to Denver, where he will start as one of the outside cornerbacks in Vic Fangio’s defense. This trade indicates the Broncos felt, among the available players at cornerback whether free agency or trade, that Bouye was the best fit for the Fangio defense.
Even with the acquisition of Bouye, the Broncos will have another need at cornerback depending on how they feel about their in-house players. They could put their hope in Isaac Yiadom or Davontae Harris opposite Bouye, or they could rely on Duke Dawson in the slot and put last year’s free agent pickup Bryce Callahan on the outside.
As far as the cap implications of this trade, the Broncos get the two years of base salaries remaining on Bouye’s contract at $13 million per season.
Just 28, Bouye undoubtedly still has some good football in him and comes to the Broncos for below the current market value for cornerbacks of his pedigree.