New reports have confirmed that the Denver Broncos have traded offensive tackle Ryan Clady to the New York Jets. News about the trade came a day after D'Brickashaw Ferguson of the Jets announced his retirement.
As confirmed by Adam Schefter of ESPN via NBC Sports, the Denver team traded Clady along with a seventh round pick in exchange for a fifth-round pick from the Jets. This may not seem like the best-looking deal but for the Broncos, it's worth it. After all, during Clady's time with Denver in the last three year, he missed about 30 games and is already due to receive a salary of $9.5 million.
Being able to dodge that financial responsibility and get a fifth-round pick out of it will certainly be good for the Broncos.
As for the Jets, it seems the trade was the result of its immediate reaction to Ferguson's retirement, who also played offensive tackle for the team. According to Inquisitr, the athlete's retirement came as a surprise since he's still relatively young even for an NFL player.
However, Ferguson himself felt it was already time to retire after noticing that his performance now is certainly not what it used to be a couple of years ago. In line with this matter, if he continues to play professionally, he might be forced to pay cuts just so the Jets can open salary cap space if it decides to resign quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
With Ferguson's retirement, the Jets acted fast to secure a trade deal instead of just using up its draft pick to fill a hole in the roster. Through a trade with the Broncos, it were able to do just that. Also, the team will be able to use its picking privileges to focus on more pressing matters.
For instance, the team could draft an upcoming inside linebacker who could serve as the protégé and possible replacement for David Harris. Or, if the Jets is not able to work out an acceptable deal with Fitzpatrick, they could snatch up a promising quarterback during the draft picks. If the team is lucky, it might even be able to sign Paxton Lynch.
