The Denver Broncos had the first big hit in the NFL off season, acquire the cornerback A.J. Bouye Jacksonville Jaguars for a fourth-round pick in 2020. The Broncos will occupy the last two years of Bouye’s contract while the Jaguars will continue to rebuild their franchise, with Bouye being the last high school member of the team to reach the AFC championship match 2017.
So who got the most out of the deal? Here are our notes for each team:
Broncos Trade Grade: A-
The Broncos were in the cornerback market with Chris Harris Jr. ready to become a free agent, jumping the gun on Bouye before the Jaguars finally released him. Even better, Bouye wanted to go to Denver after studying the film on Vic Fangio’s plan and having an idea of the organization. All the Broncos had to give up was a fourth-round pick for the former Pro Bowler.
Bouye has arguably had the worst season in his career last year, finishing with 65 tackles, eight defensive assists and an interception in 14 games. He struggled to cover, allowing 60 catches for 855 yards and three touchdowns. The opposing quarters completed 65.2% of their passes and had a pass score of 101.5 when targeting Bouye. This is why the price was so low to acquire him, as well as the two remaining years and $ 30,937,500 on his contract. Bouye is still one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the NFL, ranking seventh in terms of average annual value (which was determined when he signed his $ 67.5 million five-year contract in 2017) .
So why do the Broncos receive such a high rating for Bouye? Denver is still in the process of acquiring a 28 year old cornerback who is in the prime of his career. Bouye’s style of play was no longer valid in Jacksonville under defensive coordinator Todd Wash, but he is an excellent player in Denver under head coach Vic Fangio. In Fangio’s scheme, cornerbacks that can stop the race and can play on both sides of the field benefit, two massive advantages in Bouye’s game. Putting Bouye out with a plan that suited him was a low-risk, high-reward decision for the Broncos.
Denver only parted with No. 137 overall pick, so the Broncos traded a weak pick in the fourth round to acquire Bouye. This choice that the Broncos sent to Jacksonville was acquired in the business of Emmanuel Sanders last October (Denver also received a third round choice in the Sanders case). Basically, the Broncos received Bouye and a third round pick in 2020 for Sanders, who will be a free agent this offseason. Not bad for Denver.
Jaguars Trade Grade: B-
The Jaguars weren’t going to get much for Bouye with those two years and $ 30,937,500 remaining on his contract, but give them credit for being able to unload it and make the Broncos honor the rest of the deal. Jacksonville ends up saving $ 11,437,500 of ceiling space (by Over the Cap), which leaves them with available ceiling space of $ 32.86 million.
This ceiling space is necessary if the Jaguars want to run one of the available free agents, even if they are in the midst of reconstruction. Jacksonville is trying to get out of the bad contract he gave quarterback Nick Foles and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue wants to get out (even if the Jaguars plan to place the franchise label on it). The Jaguars are still trying to repair the damage caused by Tom Coughlin, who left a bad spot on the organization as vice president of football operations. Even though the Jaguars have retained head coach Doug Marrone and defensive coordinator Todd Wash, many of the team’s players who reached the 2017 AFC Championship game have disappeared. The Jaguars still have some work to do, but they have offloaded a lot of good players in the past few years.
Jacksonville has six choices in the first four rounds of the 2020 draft (not including compensatory choices), including two choices in the first round. The same scenario applies to 2021, so the Jaguars have done a good job in storing temporary capital for a smooth reconstruction.
The Jaguars should have received more for Bouye, but the higher the guaranteed dollar contract, the lower the choice of draft Jacksonville would receive. The Jags even had the chance to unload Bouye.