As we near the mid-way point in the 2018 season, the Denver Broncos are thought of as “sellers.”
According to Jason La Canfora, multiple teams are interested in trading for Emmanuel Sanders, and Chris Harris Jr. La Canfora also mentioned the possibility of the Broncos being asked about younger cornerback Bradley Roby, while Demaryius Thomas is also garnering interest. And Mike Klis echoed that sentiment on Thomas this morning, too. Adam Schefter, ESPN and others are now chiming in as well about Thomas.
Out of all the names in that group, the most likely player to be traded away seems to be Demaryius Thomas. He and Sanders’ names were both brought up this offseason as potential trade candidates, and DT’s contract is massive, while his production lags behind Sanders, making him a more realistic asset to trade away for Denver.
This year, Thomas’ cap hit is just north of $12 million, including an $8.5 million base salary, a $2.2 million signing bonus and a $1.3 million option. This season, he’s on pace for his worst season ever. Through seven games, Thomas has only 33 receptions for 372 yards and three touchdowns. Of course, he’s had a career full of dropping the ball, especially in the biggest of moments, too.
Meanwhile, Sanders has been balling out opposite of him. Not even halfway through this season and Sanders has nearly equaled his reception total of last year (46, 47) while his yards (603) are more and so are his touchdowns, with three. Sanders is not only the best receiver on the team currently — taking DT’s No. 1 spot this year — he’s the best offensive player on the team, period.
On the defensive side of the ball, trading away Chris Harris seems like a complete long shot; he’s not only a homegrown talent who excels on the field every week, he also signed a team-friendly contract going into 2019, where his pay actually decreases by nearly $2 million, from $10.36 M this year to $8.76 M in ’19.
Harris reacted to the rumors this morning, too:
😳🤔
— Chris Harris (@ChrisHarrisJr) October 21, 2018
Roby, too, seems quite unlikely of being traded away. He’s even younger than Harris, at only 26 years old, and is a starting cornerback quality of player. Last week, he bounced back to enjoy the greatest game in his career according to Pro Football Focus, and while he becomes a free agent this offseason, the Broncos have to feel positive that they will be able to re-sign him moving forward.
One more name floating around in the trade rumors this morning is linebacker Brandon Marshall. After spending one year in Jacksonville, Marshall has played the last six with the Broncos as one of their key defenders. He’s locked up with Denver through the 2019 season currently.
For John Elway, the next eight days will be telling. The NFL’s trade deadline is 2 p.m. MT on Oct. 30, so he’ll have to decide by then whether or not to be “sellers” or stay put with his star players. If the Broncos’ GM decides to go into full rebuild mode — something he said they wouldn’t do years ago, instead his plan was to “win from now on” — Elway could pull the trigger on multiple trades in the next week. Stay tuned.