Broncos expect RT Ja’Wuan James back in 2021
Mar 4, 2021, 1:45 PM | Updated: 1:46 pm
If things go as the Denver Broncos expect them, right tackle Ja’Wuan James will be back with the club in 2021.
Speaking with the media on Thursday, both Broncos head coach Vic Fangio and general manager George Paton said they expect James back on the field for the orange and blue this upcoming season.
“I’ve talked to him a couple of times,” Fangio said. “He definitely is planning on coming back and being part of the team moving forward.”
Paton said he’s also been in contact with James, who skipped the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he’s “ready to go.”
“He said he missed football, and he’s looking forward to getting here and working and being with his teammates,” Paton said, “and I’m looking forward to meeting him and seeing him play next year.”
Since signing a four-year, $51 million deal with Denver during the 2019 offseason — at the time the largest contract for a right tackle in NFL history — James has played in just three games for the Broncos.
The eight-year pro missed all but a trio of games in 2019 due to a knee injury and then opted out of the 2020 season over concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is tough but the right decision. There’s just too much unknown about this virus and about plans handling it going forward,” James said in a statement last August.
