Stop me if you have heard this before: Denver Broncos right tackle Ja’Wuan James is hurt again.
First reported by Adam Schefter, James suffered a torn Achilles while working out on his own.
It is an unfortunate potential ending to what was the highest-paid right tackle in NFL history. The Broncos signed James to a 4-year, $51 million contract in 2019.
Schefter also acknowledges that James will end up losing out on $20 million due to injury.
Broncos' OT Ja'Wuan James’ contract tolled last year, so he was playing under his 2020 contract this year, which had $10 million guaranteed for skill and injury, and another $10 million in 2021. So it’s a $20 million potential torn Achilles injury today. https://t.co/jj10uOm298
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 4, 2021
With James potentially playing his final snap with the Broncos, the fact that they did not address the position in the 2021 NFL Draft stings a little bit more. Even though they looked at some during the NFL Draft but ultimately were beaten out by other teams, this still hurts a lot.
They like Calvin Anderson and are confident in him, but we should be prepared to see a trade or free agent right tackle signing at some point.
Benjamin Allbright acknowledged shortly after Schefter’s report that former Chicago Bears tackle Charles Leno is available but the team has yet to make a call to him. Do not be surprised if that is what the team ends up doing, as he and Broncos head coach Vic Fangio are familiar with each other from when they were both with Chicago.
At some point, something has got to give. the Broncos have not had a franchise right tackle for quite some time. For some reason, they just can’t seem to get that position corrected.
Broncos fans are going to be even more upset with James than they already were. That might not be fair in this instance as injuries do happen. It just turns out that the Denver Broncos overpaid for an injury-prone player and it is coming back to haunt them.
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That being said, we wish James good luck and to have a speedy recovery.