Report: Daiyan Henley’s knee had arthritis, causing Broncos trade to be called off

Daiyan Henley is not a member of the Denver Broncos, instead returning to the Los Angeles Chargers.

That was the surprising news on Wednesday night, with the Broncos announcing on social media that the agreed upon trade had fallen through.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Thursday morning that Denver “still wanted” to get the deal done, but the two parties couldn’t agree upon different compensation after a physical.

The original package going from the Broncos to the Chargers was a fourth-round pick in 2027 and a fifth-round selection in 2028.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has now chimed in, pointing to the exact issue. It was arthritis the Broncos found in Daiyan Henley’s knee that caused the trade to collapse.

“The Broncos discovered an issue with Henley’s knee. It has, we’re told, arthritis. (As one source with neither the Chargers nor the Broncos told PFT, most if not all starting linebackers in the NFL have some degree of arthritis in their knees.),” Florio wrote.

That last part is interesting. Almost all linebackers, playing hundreds and hundreds of snaps a season, are going to have arthritis in their knees. Clearly, what the Broncos discovered gave them pause, although they still tried to re-negotiate the deal.

Florio’s whole piece is worth reading as he argues this entire saga exposes a major flaw in the NFL trade deadline.

“This little-known ability to extend the trading period by giving the acquiring team the ability to use the physical to leverage better terms shouldn’t exist. When a deal is done at the deadline, the trade should either go through for the agreed terms or it shouldn’t,” Florio wrote.

He makes a good point — what’s stopping teams from turning a minor issue with the physical into trying to redo the whole transaction? That wasn’t necessarily the case with Daiyan Henley, but it makes you wonder if the league needs to take a look at the rules.

Regardless, Daiyan Henley won’t be on the Broncos this season. We’ll see if that pesky arthritis costs them should an injury occur to starting inside linebackers Alex Singleton or Justin Strnad.

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