One of the more disappointing teams in recent memory, the Broncos have now lost four in a row. Despite hiring an offensive-minded head coach (Nathaniel Hackett), Denver’s offense ranks last in scoring (14.3 points per game). As a result of this offense-geared losing skid, vultures are circling.
Jerry Jeudy‘s name continues to come up in trade rumors, and Troy Renck of Denver7 adds (via Twitter) teams are interested in Bradley Chubb as well. While Jeudy can be controlled through 2024 via the fifth-year option, Chubb is playing on his fifth-year option ($12.7MM). His contract expires in March. Considering where the Broncos’ season has headed, it is certainly unsurprising to see teams show interest in a contract-year pass rusher.
Denver stockpiled an edge-rushing surplus this offseason, but that has deteriorated over the past few weeks. The depth led the Broncos to trade Malik Reed to the Steelers before setting their 53-man roster, but injuries have hit this position group hard. Randy Gregory remains on IR due to arthroscopic knee surgery, and the Broncos placed backup Aaron Patrick on IR recently. He is out for the season. Baron Browning, who has thrived after moving from inside to outside linebacker this offseason, left Sunday’s game with an injury. Browning is expected to miss several weeks because of the hip injury sustained, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
With Gregory on IR and Browning perhaps headed there, the Broncos would seemingly have a tough time unloading Chubb. The former No. 5 overall pick has battled injuries during his career — one that saw minimal contributions in 2019 and 2021 due to knee and ankle trouble, respectively — but may be a candidate for the franchise tag come March. Chubb, 26, is enjoying a bounce-back contract year; he has a team-high 5.5 sacks and two forced fumbles through seven games. Chubb’s re-emergence has helped the Broncos maintain a top-tier defense; the unit sits in the top three in points and yards allowed.
Gregory is under contract through 2026, at just $14MM per year, but the longtime Cowboy has now undergone three surgeries this year. His replacement, Browning, is under contract through 2024 and has shown bright flashes since being moved to the edge. The Broncos have rookie second-rounder Nik Bonitto and 2021 seventh-round pick Jonathan Cooper as its top backup edge defenders. The former stands to start in Browning’s place opposite Chubb in Week 8.
Given Gregory and Browning’s contract statuses and the price Chubb figures to command on his second deal, the Broncos entertaining offers would not surprise. They are 2-5 and have obtained value for high-profile pieces at recent trade deadlines. Denver dealt Super Bowl 50 cogs Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders and Von Miller from 2018-21. The Miller deal helped the Broncos trade for Russell Wilson, but that swap stripped the team of first- and second-round picks in 2023. A Chubb trade would be a way accumulate a Day 2 pick the team lost from the Wilson deal, but it also would mean bailing on a future with the North Carolina State product.
As for Jeudy, Renck notes the third-year wideout continues to generate interest (Twitter link). The Broncos are hesitant to trade the former first-rounder, whom Renck notes is close with Wilson. Denver is tied to Wilson through at least 2025, and Jeudy would seemingly profile as a building-block player around the high-priced quarterback next year compared to a trade asset. The Broncos have Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick under long-term contract, on deals ($15MM and $10MM per year, respectively) that look rather team-friendly given where the receiver market went in 2022. Jeudy becomes extension-eligible in 2023. This year’s trade deadline falls on Nov. 1, and the Broncos will now be one of the teams to watch.
Broncos Country, Let’s Ride!
So, Denver seeks to compound its talent issue by trading its players to stockpile picks while its roster is built to compete now. Denver’s record is awful, but the roster is much more talented than it would appear. Hiring a competent coach would turn its fortunes immensely next year, and the Broncos are so bereft of picks that they’ll not get enough to replenish them. The only thing a fire sale will accomplish is to create new holes to fill.
Jeudy needs to stay. Where exactly, other than TE (and arguably quarterback), is Denver really in need of priority draft investment? Patrick and Sutton have also suffered injuries, and are older than Jeudy. Jeudy is in the second year of an affordable deal and has high upside. Trading him is ludicrous. Trading Chubb would be silly since Denver shelled out that contract to the as of yet still unproven Gregory. Then, Denver traded the quality backup Malik Reed, who had earned a starting opportunity. There’s no reason to trade Chubb now. If they were going to be rid of him, they should have done so in the offseason. I understand the contract concerns. But, honestly, the Broncos would not have been in this situation if they hadn’t done the Gregory deal. The numbers haven’t changed since, only the expectations. It begs the question, what was the plan? If there’s no way to retain Chubb, then a trade would be prudent. But why did they put themselves in that situation, to end with an inferior product in a much older Gregory?
The Broncos will have a fire sale for the sake of having one. Their roster is good, and they would be better served retaining these players. Tearing down the defense, by far the best unit on the team, is just going to unnecessarily hurt. I do not think that next year’s version is going to be any better for these moves, and Denver’s not going to have time to develop new talent for two or three years. They need to fire their awful coach, and hope that the new one can fulfill expectations next year. I’m just shocked at how maddening it is watching those idiots flounder about in Denver, I really am. The decision making is mindblowing, especially coming from a GM who started fairly well.
The roster is much less talented when you accept the fact that Wilson is not nearly the QB he once was.
I was speaking about everyone other than Wilson, actually. It’s impossible for me to judge Wilson, given how much Denver’s problems derive from a total lack of control by the coaching staff. Wilson would definitely be better with a strong coach to corral him-but how much better is one question. The other is whether he can realize his own limitations to accept that coaching.
I get your overriding points, but Chubb is about to be a free agent. If you’re happy enough with a Gregory-Browning tandem to not shell out for Chubb, who’s generally underwhelmed, why not recoup some draft capital for a guy you’re gonna let walk?
Like I said, if they’re confident that re-signing Chubb is a pipe dream, then go ahead. So I do get your point, Oof. That trade still is an indicator of poor decision making however, as the reason that Chubb would be unaffordable would be the contract given to the more underwhelming and older Randy Gregory. Why give Gregory that deal to turn Chubb loose? It’s idiotic.
The best thing that Denver could do right now is try to keep the team, especially the defense, together. Chubb is disappointing, sure, but he’s a part of that defense’s success. And Gregory did play well before being injured, but he’s nearly 30 and we know is guaranteed to miss games. I think you get much more from Chubb, a homegrown player, than you do from the older and even less reliable Gregory. Any picks Denver would get from these proposed trades would just be used replacing the players they got rid of. If they must trade Chubb, then I they must. But it would be a sign of mismanagement and an embarrassing way to recoup a mistake.
Chubb missed 22 games over the last three years before this one. It’s not like he’s the most dependable guy either. That would be a fair reason to not want to be the ones to pay him, and maybe even to trade him before he can get hurt again.
True, which is why I understand your point. However, there are two clear advantages that Chubb possesses over Gregory (who will default to being Denver’s replacement: production and age. Gregory has never had a double digit sack season, and is nearly 30. For those two reasons, Chubb is a more desirable option than Gregory, and the Gregory contract forcing him out is poor management, no matter how disappointing Chubb is individually.
Like I said, the defense is excellent, and likely won’t have too much age related decrease next year, at least if allowed to remain consistent. Ideally, Denver would keep it together, but Gregory’s contract dictates that someone will likely go. The contract also dictates that it will likely be the slightly more valuable player.