The Denver Broncos are making use of one of the two draft picks acquired from the trade that sent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to the San Francisco 49ers last October, and are doing so nearly two months before the start of the draft.
Albert Breer of The MMQB reports that Denver is sending the fourth-round pick that came from the 49ers to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for cornerback A.J. Bouye. The trade will become official at the start of the new league year on March 18.
Source confirms that the Jaguars have traded CB AJ Bouye to the Broncos for a 2020 fourth-round pick (@AdamSchefter first). The pick is the 4 that Denver got in the Emmanuel Sanders trade last year.
It clears $9.4 million in space for cap-strapped Jacksonville.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 3, 2020
So the Broncos will have effectively gotten whoever their third-round pick is, and CB AJ Bouye (signed for 3 years), for half-a-season of Emmanuel Sanders. https://t.co/VuyImz0h8k
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 3, 2020
Meanwhile, the 49ers got half a season and the playoffs out of Sanders, who is scheduled to become a free agent on March 18. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has already stated that he badly wants Sanders to return for the 2020 season, but the team may not be able to afford his price tag.
"I would love (more) than anything to have Emmanuel back, bad," Shanahan told The Athletic last week, "but we've got to see how that all plays out, too."
San Francisco has significantly less salary-cap space than the surplus it has enjoyed over the last few years. The team is reportedly working on re-signing defensive end Arik Armstead and will need to pay up to extend the contracts of All-Pro tight end George Kittle and Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
After losing Sanders for half of last season, the Broncos acquire a talented cornerback who has two years remaining on his contract and still have the third-round pick acquired from the 49ers. Denver proactively makes the move as the team anticipates losing cornerback Chris Harris Jr. to free agency.
The 49ers were reportedly expected to try to compete for Bouye when he hit free agency in 2017, which was Shanahan's and general manager John Lynch's first offseason with the team.
"Yeah, we looked into him," Shanahan admitted later that year. "We looked into everybody who was a free agent. ... He's a very athletic guy, very clean feet. He's hard to beat. He stays on top very well and does not give up many big plays."
Even defensive coordinator Robert Saleh had to do his homework on Bouye during that first offseason with San Francisco.
"We studied it in free agency," Saleh said in 2017. "I write up my report and give it to those guys (in the front office)."
H/t to Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Bay Area for the find.
