The Denver Broncos are reportedly shopping Ryan Clady, their top left tackle for the last couple of seasons after signing Russell Okung to a five-year deal on Thursday. Okung provided the Broncos with a reason to finally let Clady go or trade him thanks to his monstrous salary.
Clady was set to earn $19.5 million over the next two seasons, which would be alright if he wasn't coming off of a torn ACL at 29 years old. The Broncos may need to restructure Clady's salary if they hope to move him anytime soon.
There are reportedly four to five teams that are interested in Clady's services, and the Broncos could have an opportunity to move up in the 2016 NFL Draft. Currently there are five teams in danger of missing out of the top offensive tackle prospects in the draft.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 9, the Miami Dolphins at No. 13, the Oakland Raiders at No. 14, the Detroit Lions at No. 16, and the Buffalo Bills at No. 19 will all be out of range for tacking on an offensive tackle and each team needs one desperately to balance out its line.
The Broncos have nothing but bargaining chips after winning the Super Bowl and any player could potentially be in play if it means the Broncos moving up significantly in the NFL Draft. Any team that will willingly take the last spot in the first round means that it is comfortable enough with its roster that it can miss out on the top 20 prospects.
This also could mean that one of those teams is willing to provide the services of its quarterback. Out of the five teams mentioned, three have quarterbacks that they could be willing to trade. Tampa Bay is obviously out after taking Jameis Winston, the Raiders are out because they have a franchise quarterback in Derek Carr.
This leaves Matt Stafford, Ryan Tannehill, and Tyrod Taylor as potential options for the Broncos next starting quarterback and the most realistic of those options would be Matt Stafford and the Detroit Lions. Both the Lions and Broncos have seen some veterans leave in the past few weeks and have seen the retirement of key players that have major roles in their franchises.
There is that underlying feeling of sympathy on both sides, so trading Matt Stafford to finalize the fact that the Lions have to rebuild is a possibilty. A quarterback is necessary, so if a trade does go down for Clady and the Lions, expect Stafford and the swapping of first round picks to be involved.
