Daiyan Henley trade to Broncos falls through after disappointing overnight twist

The Denver Broncos will not be acquiring linebacker Daiyan Henley, after all.

In an extremely disappointing turn of events, the Broncos posted on their social pages an announcement that the trade with the Chargers for Henley would not be finalized. They didn't give any details about whether or not it was a failed physical, but that is the working assumption, because that's really the only reason for a trade falling through.

The trade deadline has already come and gone, so the Broncos can't make any follow-up moves to address what they clearly felt was something that need to be upgraded. This is a tough pill to swallow.

Broncos call off Daiyan Henley trade with Chargers

To say this was a stunner would be an understatement. The trade deadline was on Tuesday afternoon, so in the process of finalizing this deal for over 24 hours, something came up.

It's not overly uncommon to see trades fall through for medical reasons, and we saw a major example of that earlier this year when Maxx Crosby failed a physical with the Baltimore Ravens after a blockbuster trade. This kind of thing can happen.

Henley has reportedly popped up on the injury report this season for multiple different reasons. According to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, he was listed as having a knee injury ahead of the Chargers' Week 6 game against the Chiefs, but he played the whole game. He had a shoulder injury leading up to Week 9 against the Texans, but he played that whole game as well.

More information will certainly come out in time, but for now, all we know is that the deal is off, and Henley is back with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Daiyan Henley reacts to trade with Broncos being called off

Henley is obviously just as confused as everybody else when it comes to this trade not going through.

And frankly, this might be an extremely important thing that just happened in his professional career. If there is something that Henley needs to have addressed medically, he's about to hit free agency in the Spring.

If this trade had never happened, perhaps Henley plays the rest of the season without getting something medically taken care of, and it hurts his free agency value in March substantially.

That's speculation, of course, but you never know.

Broncos keeping their draft picks for the future

The Broncos had sent the Chargers a 4th-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft for Henley, as well as a 5th-round pick in 2028.

Those picks are obviously back with the Broncos after the trade fell through.

When the Broncos traded that much capital for Henley, it became clear that this wasn't just a move for the stretch run this season, but a move to acquire a player they felt like could be part of their plans into the future.

Just like trading away draft picks, never having Henley take the field for the team makes you come to the realization that, You can't miss what you never had.

Perhaps in the Spring, the Broncos will approach Henley about the possibility of coming to Denver again. They've shown they want him, enough to strike a deal with a division rival. And for Henley, it's going to be strange going back to a team that just traded you to a division rival.

This won't be the last of this particular story.

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