Denver Broncos: Team has lined up meetings with two potential replacements for Ja’Wuan James
The Denver Broncos should waste no time in finding a veteran replacement for offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, and the team is moving in that direction.
So far, the team has lined up meetings next week with free agents Dennis Kelly and Bobbie Massie, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
With James going do with another serious, potentially season-ending injury on Tuesday, the Broncos are scrambling for options at the right tackle spot, a position they chose not to address in the draft.
The Broncos do have several options at this point, and many of the free-agent options that are available can be found on this list compiled earlier by Sayre Bedinger.
Kelly, likely the better of the two options the team is currently scheduled to meet with, is a nine-year veteran who has played for both the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans.
He has played in 104 games with 47 career starts but what sets him apart from Massie is he has a much cleaner injury history.
Massie, a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2012, has played in 118 career games with 110 starts for both the Cardinals and Chicago Bears. He is coming off a season that ended due to a knee injury.
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There are many similarities between Kelly and Massie, starting with the fact that they were both drafted in 2012. They have both spent the past five seasons with the same team and they were both released by that team this offseason.
Massie has much more playing experience, but Kelly is not coming off of a knee injury, which could give him an advantage over Massie.
The Broncos will likely look at several other options beyond these two before making a decision, but it’s almost certain that the team will sign someone as there is just not enough depth at tackle on the roster.
Calvin Anderson is probably the leading in-house candidate to take over at that spot, so signing a player like Kelly or Massie would be a move similar to what the team did last year by signing Demar Dotson to back up Elijah Wilkinson.
The Broncos could also start to put some feelers out there to see if they can work a trade for another right tackle.