Aqib Talib’s Roster Spot In Jeopardy, Broncos Could Consider Trading Him At Combine

According to Ian Rapoport, Broncos CB Aqib Talib‘s roster spot is “certainly one that is in jeopardy” and he wouldn’t be surprised if Denver discussed trading him at the Combine.

“Aqib Talib’s roster spot is certainly one that is in jeopardy,” Rapoport said. “I would not be surprised if the Broncos had some talks about potentially trading him this week. … He’s got a big contract, but he’s still a very, very good player and teams know that. They have seen the film; they’ve watched him for years. His play really has not dropped off despite the fact that he’s gotten older. It’ll be curious to see what kind of market the Broncos can get. And it’ll be interesting to hear what they do on defense because they have Bradley Roby, who might be the best pure athlete on the team. They can just slide him in at corner and maybe even get a little younger, get a little better.”

Meanwhile, Mike Garafolo mentioned the possibility of Talib eventually moving to safety at some point.

“I really would be interested to see at some point in his career if he can make that switch to safety that we have seen cornerbacks do,” Garafolo said. “He’s got the body-type to do it. And I know that that’s been something that I have heard — that this could be one of those guys that makes that transition eventually. So if he winds up getting cut, would he then go talk to teams as a potential safety. Would teams come to him and say, ‘Hey we can start to make that transition for you. We may pay you more as a safety because we feel like that could be more of a long-term thing for you with our franchise.”

Last we heard regarding Talib, Mike Klis of 9 News reported that the Broncos are expected to place him on the trading block this offseason because of financial considerations.

Klis mentions that Denver has two other younger cornerbacks on their roster in Chris Harris Jr. and Bradley Roby who are scheduled to make over $17 million combined for the 2018 season.

Keeping Talib and his $11 million salary would bring that figure to around $28 million, which is a lot to allocate for three cornerbacks, especially when the Broncos could be in the market for a free agent quarterback such as Kirk Cousins.

Talib, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Buccaneers back in 2008. He spent four years in Tampa Bay before joining the Patriots in 2012.

The Broncos later signed him to a six-year, $57 million contract that includes $26 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salar7 of $11 million for the 2018 season.

According to OverTheCap.com, trading or releasing Talib would free up $11 million of available cap space while creating $1 million in dead money.

In 2017, Talib appeared in 15 games for the Broncos and has recorded 31 tackles, one interception returned for touchdown, a forced fumble and seven pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 14 cornerback out of 120 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Talib as the news is available.