The Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins came together for a blockbuster trade at last year's deadline, a trade which proved to have substantial implications on the future of the franchise as the Broncos used the first-round pick they received from the Dolphins in exchange for Bradley Chubb to trade for head coach Sean Payton. Now, you can't help but wonder if the two sides could potentially fire up trade talks once again.
Denver Broncos general manager George Paton has a longstanding (and good) relationship with Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier. The two obviously already have a good working relationship and Grier might be calling up Paton again to ask about the avaiability of left tackle Garett Bolles.
But why?
Dolphins left tackle Terron Armstead suffered a pretty scary-looking injury at Dolphins camp on Thursday, although he has texted old friend Cameron Wolfe that he's going to be okay:
Dolphins LT Terron Armstead texted me “I’ll be good” a few minutes ago.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 17, 2023
Armstead will get a MRI to be 100% certain. But it sounds like good news for Armstead, one of Miami’s best players, after practice injury scare.
We'll eagerly await the results of the MRI, because Armstead already had a knee scope this offseason and this is obviously pretty substantial for the Dolphins, whose offensive line has already been the talk of training camp out there and not for good reasons. Although there would have to be some financial gymnastics involved to fit Bolles under their salary cap, perhaps the Dolphins would consider a trade like this if Armstead's MRI comes back with worse news than "I'll be good."
Even if the Broncos don't trade Bolles to Miami, the idea of the Broncos moving on from him, in some capacity, is a very interesting development worth monitoring. The Broncos can save nearly $14 million in cap space by cutting or trading Bolles at this point. Given the fact that he has a $20 million cap hit in 2024 and is likely not in the team's plans at this point raises an interesting handful of questions.
Is Garett Bolles worth $14 million more than Cam Fleming? Is he in the team's plans for 2024 at all? If not, why would you not take those salary cap savings when you are nearly $30 million over the cap next offseason?
People on Twitter have been arguing over the team's lack of depth at offensive tackle if they cut or trade Garett Bolles, but the reality is, the team might like some of the players on the roster more than anyone in the fan base really knows. Isaiah Prince has gotten first-team reps at right tackle, and the same is true of Quinn Bailey and rookie Alex Palczewski. Why would the Broncos be giving those guys first-team reps at right tackle?
Are they unhappy with Cam Fleming? Fleming was listed on the initial depth chart as the primary backup at both left and right tackle. He was basically the team's full-time starter at left tackle last season and he did a pretty solid job, especially in the running game.
I don't think the team is unhappy with Fleming, although I could be wrong. It's odd that they are giving reps to other players at right tackle with Mike McGlinchey injured, however. If there's even a slight chance that McGlinchey would miss time this year, why are they giving looks to other players instead of inserting Fleming into that spot?
Is it possible that they want to see who would actually be called upon if McGlinchey goes down, because Cam Fleming would be occupied playing the left tackle position? I don't think it's out of the question.
With that all being said, if the Broncos are even remotely putting Bolles on the market, the Dolphins could make some sense as a possible trade destination. They obviously will await MRI results on Terron Armstead, and if he's fine, obviously this kind of a trade is not going to happen. But in the next couple of weeks, don't be shocked if the Broncos begin shopping Bolles's name around the league.
The cap savings and dead cap hit (nearly $14M cap savings, $4M dead money) are the same whether the Broncos would cut or trade Bolles at this point. But rolling over that $14 million in cap space could help the Broncos land other (high quality) players in 2024 NFL free agency.
The time to move on from Bolles is now. The question is -- will the Broncos have any suitors? At this point in time, the Miami Dolphins might make sense more than anyone else.