Denver Broncos: Team is likely stuck with Ja’Wuan James in 2021
If Ja’Wuan James intends to return to the field in 2021, it will most likely be in orange and blue.
Looking more and more like a free-agency bust at right tackle along the lines of Donald Stephenson and Menelik Watson, James has a lot to prove in 2021. But because of the hit the team would take if it were to cut him, the Broncos may be forced to roll with him.
That’s not an exciting proposition.
Hopes were high when John Elway signed him to a four-year, $51 million contract in March 2019. Since then, the team has gotten all of three games with him on the field.
He came to the Broncos with injury concerns, having missed multiple games in his years with the team that drafted him, the Miami Dolphins. This past season, with plenty of questions about whether or not it was a good move to sign him, James opted out of the season due to Covid-19 concerns.
James will begin the 2021 season as the starter at right tackle, but here’s the main reason why he won’t be cut: it would cost the team dearly.
Cutting James would carry a ridiculous $19 million hit in dead money. The team simply can’t afford to do that.
After discussing ways the team could get a boatload of money back in the salary cap this offseason, cutting James would hinder that goal drastically. Fans might not like it, but he’ll be sticking around.
The Broncos do have players that can come in and relieve James should he struggle or get injured. Elijah Wilkinson has gained a ton of playing experience with the Broncos and Calvin Anderson looked good in spots this past season.
With those two guys on the roster, the team at least has some depth and a solid backup plan if things continue to trend in the direction they have been for James.
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As far as a permanent right tackle goes, it’s hard to say what the Broncos will do, but it probably won’t be James in the long term unless things change course in a major way.