The Denver Broncos made the slightly surprising decision to trade former first-round pick Jerry Jeudywide-open in the 2024 offseason, dealing him to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a couple of Day 3 draft picks (which were used to trade up for Troy Franklin). The decision to trade Jeudy was fascinating because Sean Payton had seemingly gone to bat for him in the 2023 season when he was running wide open and being missed by Russell Wilson consistently.
Not only that, but the Broncos had apparently turned down strong offers for Jeudy in the past.
They must not have been planning on paying him, and from the sounds of it, Jerry wanted to get out of Denver anyway. He had some choice words ahead of the Broncos-Browns Monday night matchup which will be Jeudy's return to the Mile High City...
Former Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy glad he's not in Denver anymore
Jerry Jeudy to Tony Grossi of https://t.co/ndZQdQJLRH this week about his return to Denver: “My feelings? I just want to go back up there and whip their ass.”
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) November 29, 2024
Jerry Jeudy went into more detail today on his exit from Denver. He wasn't happy with his role and asked the Broncos to trade him.
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) November 29, 2024
Asked if his experience has been better in Cleveland, he said, "Oh, hell yeah!"
Jeudy noted in his media availability this week that he didn't feel like his talent was being properly utilized in Denver, which is debatable, to say the least. The Broncos took Jeudy in the 1st round of the 2020 NFL Draft when they thought they had a legitimate quarterback in Drew Lock. That didn't turn out well.
Jeudy was hurt in 2021 before he was undoubtedly improperly utilized by offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, but that was short-lived. Nathaniel Hackett and Russell Wilson took over in 2022 and Jeudy had the best year of his NFL career with 100 targets, 67 catches, 972 yards, and six touchdowns.
His QB rating when targeted regressed to the mean in 2023 in the first year of the Sean Payton era and apparently after the 2023 season, Jeudy wanted out of Denver. It's hard to blame him for wanting to kick the Broncos' butt because after having it pretty good at Alabama, Jeudy was used to being the star and winning all the time. It was tough sledding in Denver and Jerry gave it his all.
On Monday night against the Broncos, we are almost certain to see Jeudy being shadowed all night long by his old Broncos and Alabama teammate -- Pat Surtain II. The Browns will undoubtedly try to motion Jeudy around the formation to get him favorable matchups throughout the course of the game, but we're likely to see him up against Surtain in coverage most of the time.
Jeudy has been red hot as of late with over 70 yards in four straight games and over 225 yards in his last two games. He came up clutch in the Browns' upset win over the Steelers last week and he's going to look to keep that momentum going as he comes back to Denver.
He'll have to get past Pat Surtain II to make it happen, which has proven to be a tall task few in the NFL have been able to accomplish this season. Or last year. Or the year before that. Or the year before that.