Broncos trade Jerry Jeudy to Browns for draft picks

Jerry Jeudy will not be a part of the future plans of the Denver Broncos.

Saturday, word broke that the Broncos had agreed to trade Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for draft picks. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the choices dealt to Denver were fifth- and sixth-round picks.

The swap brings down the curtain on four tumultuous seasons that saw bursts of promise coupled with head-scratching junctures. On the field, such moments included a spate of dropped passes in Jeudy’s rookie season — including five in the penultimate game of the 2020 campaign, a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Away from it, they included moments of candor that saw his frustration bubble to the surface.

JEUDY STRUGGLED TO KEEP HIS FRUSTRATION INSIDE

In his rookie season, for example, Jeudy tweeted, “At least I got my conditioning in” after a Sunday Night Football loss at Kansas City in which he caught one pass for 5 yards. He was targeted three other times by then-starter Drew Lock, but none were catchable.

But never was the frustration more prominent than last October, when Jeudy let loose during a wild question-and-answer session at his locker-room stall, breaking out a “the eye in the sky don’t lie” to explain how he thought he was getting open but other things were happening to prevent potential receptions.

“I mean, as a receiver, it’s a lot of people you’ve gotta depend on,” Jeudy explained. “You could be open, but the line don’t do their thing, the quarterback didn’t do the job, the OC don’t put you in a — it’s a whole lot of stuff that we’ve gotta go through as a receiver to be successful.

Jerry Jeudy: “You could be open, but the line don’t do their thing, the quarterback didn’t do the job, the OC don’t put you in a — it’s a whole lot of stuff that we’ve gotta go through as a receiver to be successful. …”

pic.twitter.com/h9G4nYXFGZ

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 19, 2023

“So, I can’t really just — at the end of the day, I’ve gotta do what I do at the end of the day. People can say, ‘Oh, look at the stats, look at this, look at that.’ But the eye in the sky don’t lie. So, that’s what it is.”

And when asked by this reporter what that “eye in the sky” revealed, Jeudy offered a truculent response.

“I think that’s what y’all need to do,” Jeudy replied. “Go watch the film instead of looking at the stats. Go watch the film and see what it do.”

That press conference was the culmination of months of trade rumors that somehow didn’t result in a deal before the deadline last October. Nearly five months later, the Broncos have a trade of their 2020 first-round pick, which will become official at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.

WHAT COMES NEXT AFTER THE BRONCOS TRADE OF JERRY JEUDY

The fifth-round selection acquired by the Broncos is the first choice of the fifth round, overall pick No. 135. The sixth-rounder from Cleveland is at the 202nd spot.

The Broncos now have eight draft picks:

• Round 1: No. 12 overall
• Round 3: No. 76 overall
• Round 4: No. 120 overall
• Round 5: No. 135 overall
• Round 5: No. 144 overall
• Round 5: No: 146 overall
• Round 5: No. 202 overall.
• Round 6: No. 206 overall

The trade of Jerry Jeudy by the Broncos brings an end to a four-year era that saw the team select him with the No. 15 overall pick of the first round in 2020, witness a promising season pockmarked by drops as a rookie and then.

The Broncos will save $12.987 million of cap space in the trade. Denver currently has over $31 million of cap space after their moves of recent days. This means they could take the larger of the two year-to-year cap hits on Russell Wilson’s dead money if they so desire and still have more than $13 million of space even if they don’t make any other moves.

On the roster, Jeudy’s departure opens the door for Marvin Mims Jr. to assume a more prominent role. The team’s current starting receivers would likely be Mims, Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick. Patrick agreed to a restructured deal Friday that reduced his 2024 salary to the league minimum as he tries to return from a ruptured Achilles preceded by a torn ACL.

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