John Elway, the general manager of the Denver Broncos, recently came forward to clarify the trade rumors surrounding cornerback Aqib Talib. According to these rumors, the Broncos are looking to release Talib following his leg injury a couple of months ago.
Earlier this week, SportsCenter reporter Dianna Russini tweeted that the Denver organization has made Talib available via trades. However, during a press conference, Elway noted that these rumors are not true.
"False," he told reporters according to ESPN. "[Talib's] name was never brought up anywhere."
It is not yet clear how these rumors started but it may have something to do with what happened to the cornerback in June.
As reported by ABC News, Talib was in Dallas during that time when he suffered a gunshot wound on his right leg. Due to the incident, he was not able to accompany his teammates during the Broncos' trip to the White House to meet President Barrack Obama who congratulated them on their Super Bowl 50 victory.
According to Talib, he was not able to see nor identify who the shooter was. In August, law enforcers started investigating the idea that Talib may have shot himself. When asked about that, the athlete refused to provide a comment.
"The situation is still under review and we have to respect that process," he said at that time. "I'm not going to talk about that right now, but I feel great."
Despite the incident, the Broncos are still keen on retaining Talib on their roster once the 2016 NFL season officially opens this Thursday. But, as noted by Elway, this could change depending on the decision of the organization's higher executives.
"We've heard nothing," he said according to Yahoo! Sports. "We're full speed ahead. It would be very disappointing if we heard something at this point in time."
Talib officially entered the league after he was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 20th overall pick during the 2008 NFL draft. In 2012, the Buccaneers traded him and a 2013 seventh round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a fourth-round pick.
He only stayed with the Patriots for one year before joining the Broncos on March of 2014 after signing a six-year deal worth $57 million.
