Paton can send message by moving on from James
Mar 16, 2021, 12:00 AM
George Paton has yet to make a difficult decision when it comes to the Denver Broncos.
Moving on from guys like A.J. Bouye and Jurrell Casey were easy decisions for the newly-hired general manager; even franchise tagging Justin Simmons came as no surprise.
Paton has six years to build the Broncos in his image, and he should start by sending a message by cutting Ja’Wuan James.
Denver signed James to a four-year deal worth $51 million, and $32 million guaranteed. It would be a $19 million cap hit to cut him in 2021, and Paton should do it anyway.
The Broncos reset the market with James, making him the highest paid right tackle in the league, and he has played a total of 63 snaps in two seasons for Denver.
If Paton wants to create a new culture, he can start by ending these horrible deals he inherited.
Paton didn’t sign James and most certainly does not need to keep him. The Philadelphia Eagles just ate the largest dead cap in league history over a quarterback — Carson Wentz — they moved up in the draft to select.
No one is untouchable, and sometimes you need to own a loss to move on. The signing of Ja’Wuan James was a loss.
What good does it do to keep a player like James? He can’t be trusted by his teammates and coaching staff. Vic Fangio basically called him soft in 2019.
Even if he plays an All-Pro level in 2021, does that mean Denver re-signs him?
There is no positive outcome to keeping James on the roster. If the only argument is cap space, spare me.
