Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that doctors evaluated RT Ja’Wuan James‘ torn Achilles tender on Tuesday and they are hopeful he won’t miss the entire 2021 season.
Garafolo adds that James is slated to undergo surgery later this week and they expect to know more regarding his timetable at that point.
The Broncos are reportedly evaluating their options at right tackle, so it won’t be surprising to see them bring in some depth in the coming weeks.
James suffered the injury away from the team’s facility, which means his 2021 salary and guarantees could be in jeopardy, depending on how the Broncos want to handle this situation.
If he misses the 2021 season, James will have only played three games in three years for the Broncos since signing a four-year, $52 million deal to be their starting right tackle.
James, 28, 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 for the 2018 season but he later departed for a four-year, $52 million contract that includes $32 million guaranteed with the Broncos in 2019.
James was set to make a base salary of $10 million for the 2020 season when he opted out. That was deferred to the 2021 season.
In 2019, James was limited to appearing in just three games for the Broncos and making three starts at right tackle.
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