Last month, I talked about the positives of trading for Joe Flacco. The move to trade Case Keenum to the Washington Redskins is another that will work out for the Denver Broncos.
Keenum will be ousted after just one year with the team, and though that shocked Keenum, it shouldn’t shock the fan base.
John Elway said the Broncos were interested in hanging on to Keenum, but that had to be a case of “saying the right thing.” It made no sense for Keenum to stay in Denver based on one thing — his salary.
That is why this is a good move.
After news broke that the Broncos planned to obtain Flacco, the Keenum era was over. Though the ideal move would be to trade Keenum, teams around the league won’t offer much when they know that the player could just as easily be brought on after being released.
And let’s be honest, that’s what was going to happen if the Broncos couldn’t find a trade partner. Paying a backup quarterback $7 million is not conducive to putting together a winning roster.
That the Broncos were able to get something for Keenum, and more importantly get half of that $7 million off their books, is a substantial victory.
In addition to that, the Broncos will also get the Redskins’ sixth-round pick in 2020 while giving up their seventh-round pick in the same draft.
This was a situation in which the Broncos could have easily gotten absolutely nothing. Cutting Keenum would have resulted in a $10 million “dead-money” hit.
Though the Broncos still have a need a quarterback, at least in terms of a long-term answer, it’s hard to really dislike the pair of moves Elway has managed to pull off this offseason.
