The Broncos have themselves a new cornerback. On Tuesday, GM John Elway struck a deal with the Jaguars to acquire A.J. Bouye, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets. Klis notes in a separate tweet that multiple teams were interested in trading for Bouye, but he preferred to be dealt to Denver, and Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell made it happen.
In exchange, the Jaguars will receive a 2020 fourth-round pick (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). The trade will be officially processed on March 18, when the new league year kicks off.
Once finalized, the Broncos will assume the $13.4MM owed to him in 2020 and the $13.5MM coming to him in 2021. The Broncos will honor that deal “for now,” Klis writes, so it sounds like the Broncos may look to restructure the contract once all of the dust settles.
The deal, in all likelihood, will mark the end of Chris Harris‘ tenure in Denver. Harris is set for free agency and he was already preparing himself to move on. The arrival of Bouye all but seals it. This also means that the Broncos will be less bullish on this year’s crop of free agent CBs, which includes notables like James Bradberry, Josh Norman, Logan Ryan, and Byron Jones.
Bouye teamed with Jalen Ramsey two years ago to help form one of the most talented secondary units in the NFL and aid the Jags in their run to the AFC title game. Now, that whole group has been revamped.
Instead, the Jaguars are choosing to retool and they’ll have a bevy of draft picks to make that happen. With the trade, they’ll have ten picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, with six of those picks coming in the first four rounds and two in the first round. As Schefter (Twitter link) notes, they’ve also got nine picks in 2021. And, in both years, they’ve got two picks in Round 1 and Round 4. The Jaguars will also have more to spend – by dealing Bouye, the Jaguars have cleared an additional $11.4MM in cap space.
Last year, Bouye recorded 65 tackles and one interception for the Jaguars. Still, he didn’t fit the Jaguars’ plans – Jacksonville would have released Bouye if they didn’t find a deal for him, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com hears (via Twitter).
Jags win this trade
What is Denver doing?
Accepting defeat on Harris
How the Jags GM is still employed is beyond me. How many misses in the 1st round, how many sour FA’s he over paid for, how many losing season vs winning seasons? Long list of failures. Thanks for keeping him Shad!
Sorry JJB0811; your teams problem isn’t the GM; it starts at the top & permeates through the entire team. All the young stars they’ve picked & picked up were no more a team player than the owner. They do not embrace their own city; now it’s 2 home games every year in London. What drives that other than greed. Looks like the upper deck tarp is going back up so the games will be televised locally. No family culture, no one wants to play there except for the money, so individuals are all they have; money hungry, me first culture.
100% agree. Shad isn’t in it to win on the field. 7+ years of ownership and 1 division title says it all. Mostly losing season under his direction.
Coughlin destroyed the “Culture” there through his Dinosaur Tactics and why would you hire a Head Coach with a Losing Record coming in … because he was going to be a Tom Coughlin Puppet. Coughlin recommended Marrone and his Balony Sandwiches. Now, they have a very high paid QB who isn’t even good enough to beat out a 6th Round Pick !!
I still think the owner want to move the team to London
Trading a 4th round pick for a top 10 CB
I think the broncos win this but I’m surprised why the Eagles did bounce on this or another team
Top 20* sorry
Top 30 sorry
Prediction Harris goes to Dallas to replace Jones
I don’t think so, I’m a Cowboys fan and Jerry seems to be a little stingy with his wallet to bring in high profile players. There are only a hand full of times he did. I think we will get whoever is cheap at cb Prescott’s contract may eat a lot of the salary this season.
I would still like to see Denver look for more help at corner in the free agent market, at least explore it. Byron Jones and Logan Ryan maybe.
Losing Chris Harris Jr. is disappointing.
Not a huge fan of Bouye as some yet a fourth-round pick for a veteran who once made a Pro Bowl is a reasonable risk. Would have preferred the draft pick but with no veteran corners that defense would have been a turnstile.
Jags should be competitive in 3-4 years unless they keep overpaying mediocre QBs
Don’t hold your Breath !