Denver Broncos may have to trade a star player after Jets loss
Absolutely nobody wanted to be in this kind of a situation, but here the Denver Broncos are after seven terrible, horrible, no good, very bad weeks of the 2022 NFL season. The Broncos are no longer in a position to dream of getting out of the AFC West cellar and competing for a championship. Those dreams are dashed, at least for 2022 it would seem. No, the Denver Broncos are instead in position to be sellers at the NFL trade deadline on November 1.
No matter what happens with the Broncos in London this coming week against the Jaguars, the team will — at best — be 3-5 this season staring down an absolute gauntlet in the second half with star players going down left and right with injuries every week. General manager George Paton isn’t going to dump everyone with trade value, but the Broncos will almost undoubtedly make a few deals with some writing already on the wall in a couple of cases.
Denver Broncos likely to deal Bradley Chubb after Jets loss?
The loss to the Jets has at least provided some clarity for the Broncos in terms of their status in just over a week when the NFL trade deadline actually goes down. That clarity is, of course, that the team should be looking to make a rather substantial move. And unfortunately, the Broncos are not “buyers” this year.
Specifically, I think we’re looking at trades involving tight end Albert Okwuegbunam — a healthy scratch once again on Sunday — and Bradley Chubb. The Broncos have allegedly received calls regarding Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler as well, but it would be slightly shocking if the Broncos made Russell Wilson’s weapons worse unless they got an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Bradley Chubb has played well enough this season to warrant a very good haul in return for a trade. The perception right now is that a trading team would only be acquiring Chubb for nine or 10 games, but that’s simply not the case. Although Chubb is slated for 2022 free agency, any trading team would have the franchise tag at their disposal.
Is that an ideal situation? Not in terms of the salary cap, certainly, but it does give you at least an extra year of team control if you give up something good in a trade. And that’s precisely why the Broncos should be holding out for nothing short of first-round value for Chubb. He’s still just 26 and he’s playing extremely well this season. He can help a title-contending team and teams like the Eagles have been rumored to be interested in trading for pass rushers.
It also just so happens that the Eagles have multiple first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft and their general manager, Howie Roseman, is always willing to wheel and deal. Not that Philadelphia is the only trade partner, but you get the idea.
As painful as it is to even talk about, this is the reality of the state of the Denver Broncos right now. This is not a contender in the AFC. This is once again the last-place team in the AFC West and the Broncos seem worse in 2022 than they were at the end of 2021 when the coaching staff had one foot out the door already.
These are the unfortunate repercussions of being bad, and the Broncos don’t currently have the NFL Draft to look forward to because they don’t have a first- or second-round pick thanks to the Russell Wilson deal. They do have outstanding depth off the edge, and while losing Bradley Chubb would be awful, his trade value is at a peak level right now, he’s healthy, and Randy Gregory will be back soon from injury.