3 reasons why the Denver Broncos should cut Ronald Darby

The Denver Broncos have many interesting decisions ahead of them after this disappointing season ends including what to do with starting cornerback Ronald Darby. Faced with several tough offseason free-agent decisions with Dre’Mont Jones, Alex Singleton, and Dalton Risner, the Denver Broncos need to figure out how to make the best use of their projected $22 million in cap room (not counting the 2023 draft pick salaries). Given the sad state of the franchise and the limited draft picks, the Denver Broncos need to bring in some free-agent reinforcements from around the league while limiting the exodus of talent from the current roster.

Undoubtedly, there will be tough decisions that need to be made, but one such decision shouldn’t be too difficult barring a setback in recovery, and that’s the release of starting cornerback Ronald Darby who signed with the Denver Broncos just two years ago in free agency after stings with the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Commanders.

And despite his high quality of play when healthy, Ronald Darby should be outright released in the offseason (if he is cleared) or designed with an injury settlement so the Denver Broncos can clear $10 million in salary cap space ahead of a pivotal offseason for general manager George Paton.

Here are the three reasons why.

Ronald Darby is never healthy

Ronald Darby has not been able to stay healthy throughout his NFL career. In his 8-year career, Darby has managed to play a full season just one time, which was the season right before joining the Denver Broncos. He has averaged just 11 games played in his career.

Despite his talent, the best skill is availability and Ronald Darby is not often available.

But his time with the Denver Broncos has actually managed to be worse from an injury standpoint. He missed the first five games of his Denver Broncos career after being placed on injured reserve to start the 2021 season, and he only played in five games this year before winding up on injured reserve with a torn ACL.

In addition to having health issues in his career, coming back from a major injury like a torn ACL isn’t easy at 28 (going on 29).

And it’s not like Ronald Darby is a perennial Pro Bowl player either. He’s never made the Pro Bowl, hasn’t had a Pro Football Focus coverage rating above 70 since 2018, and was only the 45th-rated cornerback in the league this year with a much smaller sample size.

If you aren’t healthy often, you better be a lights-out player when you are or at least be inexpensive. Ronald Darby is none of those.