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Renck: Broncos won’t pick up tackle Okung’s four-year, $48M option

Feb 23, 2017, 12:33 PM | Updated: 2:39 pm

If they weren’t already, the Denver Broncos for sure will be in the market for a left tackle come free agency or the NFL draft, as the club will reportedly not pick up the four-year, $48 million option for Russell Okung.

Denver 7 Broncos Insider Troy Renck, joining 104.3 The Fan’s Brandon Stokley on Thursday, said sources told him that Denver will be moving on from Okung, who would have been due $20 million in guaranteed money.

“… The issue more than that was $20 million in guaranteed money, which based on his performance last year that just was too big of a cost the Broncos weren’t willing to absorb,” Renck said.

Okung also had no incentive to restructure the contract to stay in Denver, Renck said, because of the sparse left tackle market this offseason.

“Is he worth $12 million on the open market? He very well might be. Is he worth that to the Broncos? They decided today he’s not,” Renck said.

Negotiating his own deal, Okung signed a five-year, $53 million deal in March, but as the contract was structured it was more like a one-year, $5 million deal with an option for four more years and $48 million.

Essentially, Okung bet on himself, and Renck cautioned people calling him a failure just because Denver opted to not pick up his option for next season and beyond, as he may end up getting $12 million a year in a free agency market barren of left tackles.

“Everyone said, ‘Well, he didn’t play well, and they’re moving on, so he failed.’ Not necessarily because he could still recoup it in this free agent market. That was part of his thinking, looking at the free agents this coming season,” Renck said. “That part hasn’t played out yet. So, I would say in fairness to Okung, he might end up being right. It just doesn’t mean it worked out here.”

As a replacement for Okung, Renck said he expected the Broncos to pursue veteran Cincinnati Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth.

“I have not confirmed that, but the expectation is they’ll certainly and have interest in him. He’s older, and he would be more of a short-term fix for a couple of years,” Renck said.

Earlier reports had Whitworth likely staying in Cincinnati, but the 35-year-old two-time Pro Bowler indicated in an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio this week that he might test the free agency waters.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.

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