The Denver Broncos don’t need Prince Amukamara.
Monday’s news of the Raiders releasing corner Prince Amukamara was a bit surprising after they had just acquired the corner in May.
However, the news of his release started a conversation (or a debate) on whether Amukamara would be a good fit for the Denver Broncos.
This conversation only intensified with Wednesday’s news that cornerback Isaac Yiadom was traded to the New York Giants on Wednesday, in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2021.
Amukamara even said that an ideal situation would be to be reunited with Vic Fangio in Denver.
“Of course, that’s a no-brainer,” he told 104.3 the FAN in Denver.
While Amukamara has had a very successful NFL career and deserves another opportunity elsewhere, that opportunity likely won’t and shouldn’t be with the Denver Broncos.
Vic Fangio has not made it a secret that he wishes to build a significantly younger Broncos’ roster, unloading guys such as Chris Harris Jr. and Derek Wolfe, in hopes that the younger guys will be able to fill those shoes.
While Amukamara would be a cheaper option than Chris Harris Jr. was, the Broncos would not be getting any younger at the corner position if they signed him. In fact, Amukamara is 12 days older than CHJ. With this logic, it would have made the most sense for the Broncos to keep the production they had in Harris Jr.
Another thing to keep in mind is that although the Broncos’ cornerback room, with the loss of Chris Harris Jr., is pretty unproven, it has lots of potential. Even with Yiadom being traded, the Broncos will have A.J. Bouye and Bryce Callahan starting, with guys like De’Vante Bausby, Davontae Harris, and Michael Ojemudia contending for that third starting spot.
Don’t leave the young Essang Bassey off of your radar; he could become a Cinderella story.
Realistically, in regards to secondary, the Denver Broncos are in a pretty good position.
While many Broncos fans (myself included) wanted to take a swing at Amukamara at the beginning of free agency, following CHJ’s departure, as time has progressed, the moves makes less sense than it did in March.
Another contributing factor in this aspect is that Amukamara is a free agent once again because he did not make the cut for the Las Vegas Raiders. Although the Raiders have been impressed with their young guys in Damon Arnette and Trayvon Mullen.
While the Raiders’ secondary may have risen above training camp expectations, it appeared that Amukamara struggled at training camp and just did not perform well enough to make the roster.
While Amukamara deserves another chance to play in the NFL, because he does still have a lot of talent and experience to offer, the Denver Broncos are more set in the secondary than one may expect. Logically, it just does not make sense to take a swing on Amukamara at this point.