KUSA — The Denver Broncos have said goodbye to offensive lineman Menelik Watson, even though his $5.5 million salary for the 2018 season is fully guaranteed.
John Elway may not be perfect but give the Broncos’ general manager credit for realizing a mistake and cutting his losses. By moving Watson off the roster with a injured reserve destination with plans of cutting him when he recovers from his pec strain, Elway is proving that money is not getting in the way of building the best possible roster for the 2018 season.
After Watson played four, injury-plagued seasons with the Oakland Raiders, he became a free agent and signed a three-year, $18.375 million deal with the Broncos last year with the idea of making him their starting right tackle.
It didn’t work out. Watson was charged with 8 sacks in the seven games he played before suffering a season-ending foot injury. He was the league’s only offensive lineman who played more than one game who had more sacks allowed than games played.
The Broncos moved him to right guard this offseason, but he was unable to beat out Connor McGovern for the starting position. Watson suffered a strained pec last week and was going to miss the next week or two.
After drawing $5.94 million last year, Watson has already collected a $125,000 workout bonus this year. The Broncos can offset some of his $5.5 million payout if he signs with another team. The team does save $500,000 in per game roster bonuses Watson was scheduled to receiver.
With Watson not in their plans, the Broncos are expected to go with Billy Turner and Max Garcia as two of their primary backup offensive linemen. Elijah Wilkinson, Cyrus Kuoandjio and sixth-round rookie Sam Jones are competing for the other backup spots for the 53-man roster that will be set September 1 – or less than two weeks.
