Clayton: The Broncos have something other AFC West teams don’t

On Monday, I wrote about the idea that the Broncos have the ability to keep their offensive line together thanks to Garett Bolles. Denver’s right tackle signed a contract extension last season that makes him well paid, but only carries a cap number of $6 million in 2021. That allows the team to keep Graham Glasgow and Ja’Wuan James.

Omar Kelly is a beat writer for the Dolphins and knows James from the left tackle’s time in Miami. He noted that he’s hearing James’ name in trade talks around the league.

We’ll see if that means anything. Right now, a lot of people are talking, shopping and discussing various things.

Look what’s going on around the AFC West, however. There’s going to be changes on every offensive line other than the Broncos.

Trent Brown, the right tackle for the Raiders, was traded to the Patriots. That was a salary dump.

Las Vegas has also informed Gabe Jackson, who was making $11 million per year, that he’s going to be cut. And Richie Incognito is going to be released, as well.

The Chargers are shopping Trai Turner. If they can’t find a taker for the guard, they’ll most likely cut him. Mike Pouncey, L.A.’s center, has already announced that he’s going to retire.

That two big changes, with potentially more to come. And the Chargers already had the weakest offensive line in the division.

In Kansas City, their two starting tackles are coming back from major injuries. They should be fine, but there could be a lot changes in the middle of the line.

The Chiefs don’t know if Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, their best guard, is going to come back after opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19. He’s a doctor now, working on the pandemic in Canada.

Looking around the AFC West, there’s going to be a lot of changes on offensive lines across the division. More than likely, given that they’re losing multiple starters, they won’t be as good as they were in 2020.

That means the Broncos need to gear up on defense. Getting to the quarterback and stopping the run might be a little bit easier in 2021 due to all of the offensive line changes in the AFC West.