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Published on 08/21/2012 at Tue Aug 21 21:33.
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Report: Broncos called Jags about Jones-Drew

Posted Tue Aug 21st by

(Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Star running back Maurice Jones-Drew has been holding out all summer in hopes of receiving a new contract from the Jacksonville Jaguars and is now willing to be traded, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.  According to reports, several teams have already shown interest.

Though the Jaguars seem unlikely to trade MJD, who is willing to sit out the start of the regular season, the team’s owner, Shad Khan hinted otherwise on Tuesday.

“Train is leaving the station.  Run, get on it,” Khan said, backing up the team’s hard-line position against a new contract for Jones-Drew.

In the wake of fellow star running backs such as Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte and Ray Rice all getting large contract extensions during the offseason, Jones-Drew wants more than the $4.45 million Jacksonville owes him in 2012.  At age 27 with minimal wear and tear on his tires after sharing the load with Fred Taylor early in his career, MJD would be a highly sought-after player if placed on the trading block.

Rumors have been swirling that teams have already begun calling the Jaguars regarding and MJD and according to one Twitter “source” known as Incarcerated Bob, the Broncos “seem the most interested.”  Bob’s “report” should be taken with a grain of salt, as some have speculated—myself included—that IB is merely a hack that tweets educated guesses and sometimes hits the nail on the head.

(He did “report”—predict, really—that quarterback Peyton Manning would sign with Denver earlier this year.  That could be attributed to connecting the dots, or maybe he really does have sources.  Regardless, we’re skeptical of him as a reliable source.)

The Broncos inquiring of MJD would not be outlandish, nearly every team in the NFL would be interested in the league’s reigning rushing leader.  In July, PFT reported that the Broncos had $11.71 million left in cap space.  Jones-Drew would come at a high price tag, but he and his agent may be willing to load a contract with easily reachable incentives and bonuses after year one in order sign with a team he views as a contender without breaking their 2012 bank book.

Many view Denver as a contender and Manning and Co. would likely attract MJD, especially after the Broncos led the league in rushing last season.  But that brings us to Denver’s crowded backfield, where Willis McGahee appears primed for another solid year.

If, and that’s a big if, the Jaguars decided to trade Jones-Drew and the Broncos landed him, would McGahee be willing to stick around as a No. 2 RB?  His agent said McGahee signed with Denver last year because he viewed Denver as a place where he could become a starter again.  Now that he is the Broncos’ main back, would he be willing to take a backseat to MJD?

Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  Either way, the Broncos would be more than willing to bring Jones-Drew in and send McGahee out.  No matter how you slice it, MJD has more upside than McGahee (he’s younger, has had fewer career carries and is more dynamic).

As of now, Jones-Drew is still under contract with the Jaguars.  Until he signs a contract extension or is placed on the trading block, everything reported should be taken viewed skeptically by fans.

With that said, we can hope!  MJD would be a solid addition to any backfield and I can’t imagine any fan not approving of him coming to Denver.  While it appears unrealistic to happen, what would you think of Jones-Drew in orange and blue?

  • jdkchem

    I’ll let you know when I figure out what a soft-after player is.

  • http://Twitter.com/Jon_BT Jon

    A player who is soft after his hardness subsides.

  • Big_Pete

    Ugh…
    I’m torn. One the one hand, I’d love to have the talent that MJD brings. On the other hand, I revert back to example A: mid 2000’s Redskins, and example B: 2011 Eagles. Someone refresh my memory, but how many championships/playoff appearances did these teams essentially buy?

    I warn all NFL teams to not try to buy championships. We have already bought Manning and a handful of others. I’m afraid that if we buy MJD, we’d push that delicate pendulum towards the Redskins/Eagle side instead of the “merely filling some holes with vets, the others with rookies” side. Please oh please Broncos, don’t try to buy a championship. It has never worked, so don’t think that you will buck that trend!

    GO BRONCOS!!!

  • http://Twitter.com/Jon_BT Jon

    Can’t argue with you there. MJD would come at a high price tag.

    I wish we had drafted Turbin, McGahee won’t last forever and I want a power back.

  • 350legend

    It is almost 1 am here in ny and I’m just getting of work and hearing this news, true or false brings music to my ears! Hope its true and we land him

  • http://thingsatrexdoes.tumblr.com Mike Birtwistle

    The price will probably be too high. I wouldn’t go any higher than a 2013 3rd and I doubt that would even get the Broncos into the sweep.
    If only this had happened last March when we had a bargaining chip that Jacksonville would’ve wanted I’d have done a straight up TT for MJD swap.

  • anthony33

    Good points BP. The Eagles and Skins are great examples. However, don’t forget about the key pieces the Bronx added before their amazing run. Niel Smith, Alferd Williams, Ed McCaffery and Bill Romanoski. Oh yeah, don’t forget about Gary Zimmerman, Tony Jones and Howard Griffith!!

    It can work. The difference is those were all support people to a very solid core of Elway, Davis, Sharpe, Atwater and Nalen.

  • BetterThanCottonCandy

    I don’t think McGahee would leave. Would be too much to get reestablished as a starter unless he were to go to a team with no chance of getting to the SB. MJD and Louie would be just one hell of a one-two punch. Or a one-one punch. Where would that put Knowshow? Or Johnson?

  • Big_Pete

    You hit the nail on the head… They were support, not headliners like Manning and MJD. When you buy headliners, that’s when you are buying a championship, and that’s when it doesn’t work. Buying 1 headliner is one thing, cause they have to go somewhere. It’s only when you start stockpiling multiple headliners that it gets out of hand and doesn’t work.

  • Big_Pete

    Even though I 100% don’t want MJD, if we got MJD, the Broncos could dump every RB on our roster (including Hillman) and still theoretically be fine. Talent alone says MJD is worth more than all our RBs put together, so it really doesn’t matter what happens to any of them.

  • Jim_Jebow

    turbin looks like the real deal

  • Jim_Jebow

    history does not always repeat itself bp

  • jdkchem

    Are we talking football or porn?

  • Big_Pete

    Says the person doomed to repeat it.

  • jdkchem

    2000-2001 Avalanche bought Rob Blake to add to the list of headliners already on the team.
    Saying the Broncos bought Manning is more than a little misleading.

  • Big_Pete

    well we did. And Manning isn’t the issue here. MJD is. Manning is enough for one year. If we want to sign a big name RB, do it next year. Teams need chemistry. Throwing too many stars from other teams onto the same team has never worked and doesn’t build chemistry.

  • http://Twitter.com/Jon_BT Jon

    I picked him up in late in my fantasy draft in case Lynch is injured or Turbin starts getting goal line carries.

  • Todd

    Broncos need help on defense and O line than RB. If the Broncos have to trade away 1st, 2nd and another proven player, for sure at lease the Jag would need that), then the Broncos would not help themselves in the years to come.

  • ApaOps5

    Incarcerated Bob is a tool. Listening to a pro who has most of Dove Valley on speed dial this morning, Vic Lombardi of channel 4, he says there is no interest unless there are drastic circumstances. Incarcerated Bob throwing crap against the wall once again.

  • jdkchem

    I have never bought into the “chemistry” argument. A better argument would be what happens in the locker room if they were to dump McGahee. Which is the most likely reason a trade would not happen.

  • Big_Pete

    but isn’t that indeed part of chemistry?
    I’d also not really give up much more than someone we don’t think would be a solid starter in 3+ years and a mid round draft pick simply because MJD only has 3 years left before he hits that magic age of 30. Since it’ll take more than that to get him, I think the cost outweighs the benefit.

    This is a QB driven league. If it wasn’t, then Jax would have made the playoffs with MJD (NFL rushing champ). Instead, they sucked and there was nothing MJD could have done about it. Hell, the difference between Gabbert and our QB last year had more of an impact on how each team faired than did the RB. So I don’t think MJD is much of an impactful upgrade over McGahee to justify the cost it’ll take.

  • Tim Lynch

    The crap he said about Manning back when no one else reported certainly stuck well enough to make people wonder if he could make the crap stick once more.

  • http://www.facebook.com/patjoejack Patrick Jackson

    IB had about 1 in 8 chance of being right as there were only that many teams with the funds to plop on Manning. The real fact is that 99% of IB crap is teflon!

  • http://www.facebook.com/patjoejack Patrick Jackson

    Let’s look at the facts! Mojo (as he is called here in Jville because Maurice Jones is his given name) won last year’s rushing title only because Foster and Peterson had injury plagued seasons! He has two years remaining on a legit contract which he thinks he can toss out like it was yesterdays newspaper. Problem is he’s dealing with a new owner who is “built from his own bootstraps” guy. He made his millions by sticking to his contracts. MJ is losing face daily to “Mr. Personality”:

    http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-08-22/story/pr-battle-between-shad-khan-and-jones-drew-theres-clear-winner

    If MJ thinks he can “slide” a deal better than “$43.5 million over 5 years” (Foster’s new contract @ Houston) past a savvy businessman, he better have a comfy couch to rest his lazy ass!

  • pinoymidgyt

    All due respect to the people cautioning about a Redskins and Eagles like failure, neither of those teams had a quarterback like PFM. Therein for me lies the greatest counterpoint to that argument. I realize it takes time to mesh, but with a field general like we have, I’m confident he’ll keep everyone in line.

  • Doom92

    I would absolutely love this move. I was the one that said getting PM was impossible and not going to happen (I just didn’t see it) so if that was possible so is this. I’m of the thought that doesn’t buy into the failures of the Skins or Birds either. Different place, time and system. If Mcgahee were to decide to bail I’m not sure if it would be as bad as some of you think. Yes they love him there but I do not think there is a one of them that would trade winning for him and MJD at a minimum would give a better “chance” of winning hand down. Personally if it came to be (which it wont) I would hope Willis would stay, those two sharing duties would be phenomenal.