Legendary Broncos players we hated to see end their careers somewhere else: Demaryius Thomas
This one was rough.
Demaryius Thomas was one of the more well-liked Broncos players of all-time and he sits at No. 2 behind Rod Smith in basically every receiving statistic in team history.
The former first-round pick was a true professional and one of the guys that was the glue that held the team together. When Peyton Manning was around, Thomas was one of the best wide receivers in all of football.
But by 2018, that had started to erode. The Broncos were a team going in the wrong direction. They had Case Keenum and quarterback and had drafted two receivers (Courtland Sutton, DaeSean Hamilton) in the first four rounds of that year's draft.
With Emmanuel Sanders also still on the roster, the Broncos chose to move Thomas in a trade ahead of that season's trade deadline. He was sent to the Houston Texans along with a seventh-round pick for a fourth and seventh-round pick in return.
His first game as a member of the Texans happened to be against the Broncos, a game that Houston won.
That would be his only season in Houston, however. He spent time with the New England Patriots and the Jets but never came close to being the player he was in Denver.
In June 2021, Thomas officially announced his retirement from the game. Just six months later, he tragically passed away at just 33 years old.