I’ve seen a few tweets over the past few days about cornerback Bryce Callahan being a surprising cut for the Denver Broncos. On top of that, Bleacher Report wrote a similar “surprising cuts” article and wrote that Callahan could get the shaft.
Frankly, I don’t get it. I think cutting Callahan would be a monumentally stupid decision and doesn’t exactly do what people think it does.
Firstly, according to PFF, Bryce Callahan was the 3rd-highest graded CB in the NFL in 2020, while also tying for 2nd in the league in most coverage snaps without allowing a touchdown.
Even further, Callahan allowed the second-lowest passer rating among all CBs.
Yes, I know he’s only played 10 games in two seasons, but Callahan was nothing short of phenomenal in 2020.
Being that Callahan’s best seasons have come within the famous Vic Fangio defense, I cannot see an instance where George Paton would realistically decide to cut him. It’s clear that Paton is all in on Vic Fangio — reloading at corner in free agency, keeping Justin Simmons, Kareem Jackson, Shelby Harris, Von Miller, and adding Patrick Surtain II in the draft indicates that Fangio has the confidence of George Paton.
Callahan is also one of the most ‘veteran’ players in Vic Fangio’s scheme, which is notoriously hard to learn, so there is also the mentoring aspect of his presence in the secondary.
The Denver Broncos did draft a slot corner, Kary Vincent Jr, who shares a lot of similar qualities with Callahan, and could theoretically take over for him next year.
From an on-the-field perspective, cutting Callahan would make no sense. It is clear that he is very good at what he does, and the Denver Broncos secondary can use all the help they can get with three very good passing offenses in the division.
If the Broncos cannot consistently put 30 points on the board every week, the next best solution is to stop those teams from doing so. Callahan is an asset on the field and should not be cut.
It also makes little, no, literally zero sense financially to cut Callahan. I keep seeing people note that the Broncos can cut him for little dead money and still save around $7 million against the cap, but, we don’t need to.
The article in Bleacher Report mentioned this, and they also mentioned that the Broncos could use their new cap from cutting Callahan to “improve a shaky offense” which also makes zero sense.
For one, what player exactly is going to improve the offense? The Broncos are loaded at TE, WR, RB, and have a perfectly capable offensive line. Unless they are talking about Aaron Rodgers, I’m not sure there is a single player the Broncos could realistically acquire that would make the offense better.
Not only that, according to Overthecap, the Denver Broncos are sitting 2nd in the NFL with over $25 million in cap space. So, why do they need to cut Callahan for cap purposes?
The financial argument to cut Callahan is a bunch of drivel, to put it mildly.
Here’s the truth, Bryce Callahan is an asset to the Broncos defense and should be on the roster, starting week 1.
The Broncos don’t need the cap space, and Callahan, for his performance in 2020, is actually on a very cheap contract. His cap hit for 2021 is just barely north of $8.5 million, which, again, is not a lot for an elite DB.
Now, I personally do not think Callahan will be on the roster in 2022, but to think that he could be cut before the 2021 season is not smart, in my opinion.
Well-run teams are well-run for a reason, and the Denver Broncos have been that for decades.
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It’s clear that George Paton knows what he’s doing, and should be able to see the value in keeping Callahan on the roster for at least one more year.