Denver Broncos choosing not to make this move is still mystifying

The Denver Broncos have had an up-and-down season that has featured a 1-5 start followed by a five-game winning streak. Most recently, that roller coaster dipped back down when the team lost to the Houston Texans in Week 13.

We have learned a lot about this team in Sean Payton's first season as head coach. It has been a learning curve for him and many of the players on the team, but there should be a strong belief that the team is headed in the right direction.

However, there is still one thing that makes absolutely no sense. So, it's time to beat that dead horse again.

Now that more than a month has passed since this season's trade deadline, we can revisit the choice the team made not to deal wide receiver Jerry Jeudy to another home. The team reportedly turned down third and fifth-round picks in exchange for Jeudy before the Halloween deadline.

Leading up to that trade deadline, I talked at length about how trading Jeudy was the right move. I was not alone, as many members of the media and Broncos Country felt the same way. But, the decision was ultimately made not to move him.

It had to be a huge vote of confidence for Jeudy that the team didn't accept that trade package. You also have to respect the team wanting to keep him in the fold and have him as part of the future plans.

But that's where it stops making any sense. Because, on a very consistent basis, Jeudy is hardly a part of anything with this team. Now, that could be blamed on Russell Wilson just not looking for him or seeing him when he happens to be open, but even if that were 100 percent the case, it's still troubling. Because if Jeudy is someone the team wants to get involved, then why is his number basically never called?

Since the trade deadline passed, he has 13 receptions for 155 yards and no touchdowns in four games. He had a nice touchdown catch against the Kansas City Chiefs before the deadline and after the deadline, he had a nice 41-yard reception against the Texans in which he was able to fight for some extra yardage and nearly scored a touchdown.

Outside of those two plays, he's had an incredibly quiet season. He has only been targeted 17 times in the passing game since the trade deadline passed. He has only one touchdown reception on the year. Five players have at least two, including two running backs and Courtland Sutton, who has nine.

He is putting up the kinds of numbers that you see out of most team's No. 3 wide receiver so it stands to reason that if you could have gotten two draft picks in return for that kind of production, you probably should have taken it.

This is not meant as a knock against Jeudy. But there seems to be a severe disconnect between he and the rest of this team and that is just the way it has felt for quite some time. Maybe he is talented, maybe he runs good routes and maybe he gets separation on a consistent basic. But none of that has translated into doing much of anything to help this team win games.

Does Russell Wilson have an issue with him? That is starting to become a serious question as he doesn't seem to look his way hardly at all.

Jeudy is under contract through the 2024 season and is scheduled to count $12.9 million against the salary cap next year.