Denver Broncos 3 worst acquisitions from 2019 and 2020 offseasons
Denver Broncos worst move no. 1: Signing RT Ja’Wuan James
Pick Analysis. Ja'WuanJames. player. 45. Scouting Report. RT. Free Agent, 2019. 1
How the Denver Broncos acquired Ja’Wuan James: 2019 free agency
Back in the 2019 offseason, I will be the first to admit that I thought signing offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James would be a good idea.
The justification was there on paper.
- Young
- Former first-round pick
- Major position of need on the OL
- Broncos had the cap space
It turns out, there were reasons beyond football that the Miami Dolphins decided to let Ja’Wuan James hit free agency at the expiration of his rookie contract in 2019.
James signed a four-year deal with the Denver Broncos worth $51 million with $32 million in guarantees.
He started the season opener against the Raiders in 2019 and got his knee rolled up on by Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict in a play that would start an unfortunate chain of events in James’ saga with the Broncos.
Despite being medically cleared by the team, James didn’t feel comfortable coming back to the field and his 2019 season was all but lost. He made appearances in three games total for the Denver Broncos that year, and that was all we’d ever see of him.
In the 2020 offseason, James was among the players who opted out of the season due to the pandemic.
His contract deferred to 2021 so the Broncos banked once again on him being the starting right tackle for that season because they were contractually tied to him.
After working out at the team facility all offseason, the NFLPA issued a statement suggesting that players shouldn’t be working out at team facilities until proper protocol was in place, and James took their advice and left.
He then suffered a season-ending Achilles injury away from the Broncos’ facility, which has caused an interesting situation where the Broncos could legally void his guaranteed money for an injury suffered away from the team facility.
The Broncos released James and he signed with the Baltimore Ravens, where he’s competing for a spot in 2022.
Looking back at this whole saga, there’s no doubt that James is one of the worst free agent signings in Denver Broncos history, and one of the worst signings in recent NFL history.