Dolphins Nixed To C.J. Anderson-For-Ja’Wuan James Trade With Broncos?

April 9, 2018

Update:

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports that the Dolphins did not want to trade RT Ja’Wuan James to the Broncos for RB C.J. Anderson and had no such agreement in place.

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Troy Renck of Denver 7, citing multiple NFL sources, reports that the Broncos and Dolphins had a verbal trade agreement in place that would have sent RB C.J. Anderson to Miami in return for RT Ja’Wuan James before the Dolphins surprisingly nixed the deal.

Renck says that the possibility of the Broncos trading Anderson during the draft remains a possibility, depending of course on how things play out.

There was some buzz that the Dolphins could release James for cap room, but the team clearly reversed course and decided to hold onto him, likely after gauging the offensive tackle market.

Prior reports out of Denver and Miami said that both players were on the trading block this offseason, so this shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Anderson, 27, wound up signing on with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Cal back in 2013. He signed a four-year, $18 million contract that included $10 million guaranteed with the Dolphins during the 2016 offseason but the Broncos matched the deal.

Anderson stands to make base salaries of $4.5 million over the next two years of the agreement.

In 2017, Anderson appeared in all 16 games for the Broncos and rushed for 1,007 yards on 245 carries (4.1 YPC) to go along with 28 receptions for 224 yards receiving and four total touchdowns.

James, 25, was taken with the No. 19 overall pick by the Dolphins back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $8.4 million contract and made a base salary of $1,569,327 for the 2017 season.

The Dolphins elected to pick up James’ fifth-year option last year, which will cost Miami $9,341,000 for the 2018 season.

In 2017, James appeared in eight games for the Dolphins and was rated by Pro Football Focus as the No. 17 offensive tackle out of 81 qualifying players.