Examining the Broncos' options at right tackle

DENVER — Ja’Wuan James’ decision to opt out of the 2020 season did not come as a surprise.

Fifteen days before he announced his decision to sit out the year, he joined many players around the NFL by using the #WeWanttoPlay hashtag to tweet his concerns about playing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

have a newborn at home & no safety protocols are in place we all have families we care about and need these safety questions answered #WeWantToPlay

— Ja’Wuan James (@JawuanJames70) July 19, 2020

In the tweet that he posted Monday to announce his decision, he mentioned both the arrival of his son and the hospitalization of a family member as reasons why he opted out.

take care of you & yours pic.twitter.com/tgA5LwkrcM

— Ja’Wuan James (@JawuanJames70) August 3, 2020

What do the Broncos do now?

First of all, James’ contract dictates that he will almost certainly be a Bronco in 2021. The terms that he was scheduled to play under this year will move forward to next year; his decision to opt out effectively puts a pause on his contract. That means the Broncos would have no cap savings from releasing him next year; even a cut with the post-June 1 designation would leave $13 million of dead money, according to OvertheCap.com.

So, the Broncos need to find a one-year solution.

THE INTERNAL OPTION: ELIJAH WILKINSON

The Broncos’ plan throughout the offseason was to have Wilkinson compete with Garett Bolles to be the starting left tackle. That competition appears to be over before it could begin, because of both Wilkinson’s offseason foot surgery and the urgent need for a right tackle.

Like Bolles, Wilkinson played better in the final stretch of the season with Drew Lock at quarterback. However, an injury ended his season in Week 16, leaving the balance of the Lions game and all of the season-ending win over the Raiders in the hands of Jake Rodgers.

Denver placed Wilkinson on the physically-unable-to-perform list last week, but activated him Monday. Wilkinson had what he called a “minor cleanup” procedure on his left foot in May, but is expected to be at full speed by the time the Broncos can don full pads on Aug. 17.

Wilkinson has a lot to gain this year; he is set to become an unrestricted free agent next spring after signing a second-round restricted-free-agent tender in the spring. That contract also leaves open the possibility of being the type of one-year bridge mentioned earlier. If Wilkinson builds off of his 2019 season and takes a few more steps forward, the Broncos could bring him back for 2021 on a new contract. His ability to play inside and outside would make him, at minimum, a valuable depth piece.

If the Broncos want to ease Wilkinson back to a full workload as he returns, they could give some repetitions to one of their young reserves, such as Jake Rodgers or Calvin Anderson. Rodgers played late last season and earned a game ball for his relief work against the Detroit Lions in Week 16. Anderson, a second-year lineman, Rice alumnus and Rubik’s Cube master, is one of the most intelligent players in the league. He’s also posted a series of tweets that could be considered cryptic, but also show quiet confidence.

Anderson continued that trend Monday:

Ready now why wait ?

— Calvin Anderson (@THE_CONDA25) August 3, 2020

Getting a chance at right tackle could be the opportunity of a lifetime for Anderson, who spent 13 weeks last year on the Broncos’ 53-man roster, but did not play a snap.

EXTERNAL OPTIONS

The Broncos created $3.875 million of salary-cap space last Friday by releasing tight end Jeff Heuerman. Given that the Philadelphia Eagles re-signed tackle Jason Peters last month to a one-year deal that could be worth up to $6 million, the Broncos could expect to pay between $3 and $5 million for any of the veteran options lingering on the market.

Here are three possibilities:

Demar Dotson: As a plug-and-play option, he would be the best choice.

In 11 seasons with the Bucs, the 6-foot-9, 315-pound Dotson was a steady, reliable presence on a team that found those qualities to be in short supply throughout their roster. Every so often, the Bucs tried to groom a replacement for Dotson. In 2013, they traded for Gabe Carimi; three years later, they drafted UCLA’s Caleb Benenoch in the fifth round, with an eye toward starting him. Dotson dismissed these challenges.

Dotson is at the point in his career where some injuries are expected. He dealt with a calf issue last year, had meniscus surgery in the 2018 offseason and saw his 2017 campaign end five games early because of a torn posterior cruciate ligament. Glenn has not played a full 16-game schedule since 2014, although he has played at least 13 games in three of the last four seasons, missing 10 games in that span.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians noted Dotson’s physical challenges last year during the NFL Coaches Breakfast at the NFL Annual Meeting.

“I mean, he can still pass block. I mean, to me, that’s where you start,” Arians said, in a quote posted by JoeBucsFan.com. “Can he get better in the running game? Yeah. But, you know, sometimes you’re asking a guy [and] he just physically can’t do something. I’ve had a couple of tackles that were really good pass blockers that couldn’t cut off to the left. Don’t ask him to. It’s no secret. We’ll run some plays just one way. Alright. It’s the only [play] in the game and we’re going to run it right. They know it. We know it. Stop it. You know, but don’t ask him to do a bunch of that. You still have to do some of it. But don’t ask him to do a bunch of it because he’s going to lose. But he can still block.”

If the Broncos can live with Dotson’s limitations — which include not having the same ability to bend as he did in the early-to-mid-2010s — he would provide an injection of leadership and experience that could help the locker room as a bridge tackle. That said, Dotson will grab at times; he had five holding penalties in 2019, his highest tally since 2016.

Cordy Glenn: Having been a left tackle throughout his career, moving to the right side would require an adjustment. Health concerns are also a concern for Glenn, who turns 31 in September. He dealt with a concussion last year and has missed 28 games in the past four seasons, including 23 in the last three.

Glenn was expected to start at left guard last year for the Bengals after they used a first-round pick on Alabama’s Jonah Williams, but the team scrapped that plan after Williams suffered a torn labrum in OTAs.

The eight-year veteran played penalty-free football in the six games he played last year after returning from the concussion. But with little time to get ready for the regular season, would he be ready to play on the other side after working at left tackle over the previous eight seasons?

Jared Veldheer: In 2019, he signed with the Patriots, subsequently retired — and then opted out of retirement. New England waived him and the Packers claimed him; a month later, he played 35 snaps in place of Bryan Bulaga as the Packers rallied to defeat the Detroit Lions in the regular-season finale. Veldheer then started for Bulaga in Green Bay’s divisional-round win over Seattle and acquitted himself well, allowing no pressures.

Green Bay then opted to replace Bulaga with former Detroit Lions tackle Ricky Wagner, leaving Veldheer unsigned. But his work with the Packers showed that there is something left in Veldheer’s tank.

The Broncos’ locker room has changed dramatically since Veldheer was on the roster. Consider this: Of the 53 players on the Broncos’ primary roster in Week 17 of the 2018 season — Veldheer’s last regular-season start — just 17 remain. So familiarity isn’t the reason to bring him back. But his performance in two high-leverage games for the Packers last winter shows that his tank isn’t empty.

HERE’S WHAT THEY SHOULDN’T DO:

Move a starting interior lineman to the outside.

The Broncos did the inside-outside shift with a veteran in 2014, moving Louis Vasquez from right guard — where he was an All-Pro one season earlier — to right tackle. Vasquez was back at right guard in 2015, but by then back issues had caught up to him; he played his final NFL snap in Super Bowl 50.

Denver has the potential to boast one of the best young interior trios in the league, with second-year lineman Dalton Risner at left guard, free-agent pickup Graham Glasgow at right guard and rookie Lloyd Cushenberry III at center. If Cushenberry emerges as the starter, the best chance to help him along is by having Risner and Glasgow flanking him; this provides the chance for Cushenberry to get any help he needs in pass protection. Risner is on a trajectory that could make him a perennial Pro Bowler at guard in the next two to three years; the Broncos should not do anything to alter that.

Rookie sixth-round pick Netane Muti has inside-outside flexibility, but he is also recovering from a Lisfranc injury that he suffered last year. He also had two Achilles tendon injuries earlier in his Fresno State career. The Broncos activated him from the non-football injury list Monday, but caution remains the best play for him, given his massive, road-grading potential if he can return to full health.

The Broncos should not sacrifice the long-term future for the present — not with James projected to return next year. All they need is a one-year bridge. They should be able to find it.