Denver Broncos: Players who can replace Bradley Chubb
1. Olivier Vernon, free agent
Once upon a time, Olivier Vernon was a really good player. The 30-year-old former Dolphin, Giant, and Brown is currently a free agent with a mildly impressive resume.
Vernon has 63.5 sacks to his name to go with 157 quarterback hits.
Just last year, he racked up 9.0 sacks with the Cleveland Browns. Vernon is about as good as the team could do right now, and he should almost immediately be able to come in and start next to Von Miller.
In 2013, Vernon notched a career-high 11.5 sacks, which led him to sign a massive $85 million contract with the Giants before the 2016 season.
Looking at Vernon’s stats, and it’s clear how consistent he is. He’s had at least 3.5 sacks in every season he’s played and can produce across multiple teams.
Spending time with three different teams may not reflect well on a player, but it’s clear that Vernon has a lot of value, and can bring his 9 years of experience to the Broncos defense, which is starting to become horribly unlucky with injuries.
If the Denver Broncos do not feel comfortable with letting Malik Reed and Jonathon Cooper carry the load in Bradley Chubb’s absence, Olivier Vernon makes a lot of sense.