During the offseason, there was so many questions on what the Denver Broncos were going to do in their wide receiver room. There were discussions if the Broncos wanted to keep wide receiver Jerry Jeudy or trade him.
With the NFL deadline for teams to pick up fifth-year options for certain players on May 3, the Broncos made up their mind to pick up Jeudy’s option, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Denver’s decision will guarantee their former first-round pick $12.9 million in 2024, according to Mike Klis of 9News.
Jeudy Was Nearly Called a ‘Bust’
After being drafted 15th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, many considered Jeudy the best wide receiver in the draft because of his route running skills.
As a rookie, Jeudy caught 52 passes for a team-leading 856 yards and scored three touchdowns.
In his sophomore season, Jeudy appeared in just 10 games as he dealt with a number on injuries. Failing to find the endzone in his second season in the NFL was disturbing to a lot of people in Broncos Country.
Catching just 38 passes for 467 yards, Jeudy was averaging just 46.7 yards per game, Jeudy never had more than 77 receiving yards in a single game.
Coming off the lack of production in 2021, Jeudy needed to exceed expectations in his third season.
In his first game of the season with Russell Wilson leading the way, Jeudy had one of the best games in his career going for 102 yards and a touchdown.
After his breakout game, Jeudy’s play started declining over the next seven games where he was only averaging 49.6 yards per game on just 3.7 receptions per game.
Jeudy would miss the next three games with an ankle injury, but when he returned, he turned into the receiver many people had been waiting for.
Over the final six games of the season, Jeudy caught 37 passes for 523 yards for an average of 87.2 and found the endzone three times.
In the final game of the season, Jeudy closed out the season on a high note catching five passes for 154 yards. This also happened to be the most effective game by Wilson in a win against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Jeudy Was Nearly Traded
As the NFL Draft neared, the Broncos had been talking with multiple teams about possibly trading Jeudy because Denver only had five draft picks.
According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Jeudy’s name came up quite a bit in trade discussions.
Howe reported that the asking price for Jeudy was remaining high and the Broncos were asking for at least a first-round pick in return.
The New England Patriots, who are in the wide receiver market, called Denver to see what the asking price was for Jeudy, according to Howe.
On March 13, Dan Graziano of ESPN reported that multiple teams believed that the Broncos could trade one of their wide receivers. Graziano mentioned that Denver has had talks with teams about Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, and K.J. Hamler.
“Teams say the Broncos are asking high prices, not just dumping, but it’s not out of the question one gets moved,” said Graziano.
ESPN’s Dianna Russini also jumped in on the action saying, “The Broncos attitude from my conversations have been, ‘We will pick up the phone and listen.’”
Since the Broncos couldn’t find a trade partner to give them a first-round pick in return, they decided to fully guarantee Jeudy a contract for 2024 with the possibility of him proving more people wrong with the intention of getting a big pay day coming up.
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Broncos Make Final Decision on Jerry Jeudy’s Future in Denver