Big Al: Broncos should get value out of Talib, Harris while they can
Jan 16, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: 12:59 am
The way Alfred “Big Al” Williams sees it, as he said on Friday, the Denver Broncos have two options this offseason: either get free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins or blow the whole thing up if they don’t.
“(There’s) only two ways that we can go: We get Kirk Cousins and we need to clear cap space, or we don’t get Kirk Cousins and we have to start over,” Williams said on Friday. “So, if that’s the case, give me all my draft capital now.”
And among the most lucrative players the Broncos could dangle out for potential suitors, Williams said All-Pro cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr could bring in a lot of capital.
“Give me all that I can get right now, as far as these guys go, in the form of a trade right now. Because guess what, whatever you thought about our secondary and our defense and all of those things that we thought were going into this last year, they’re not true anymore,” Williams said.
“These guys are still special players, so get me the most value I can get out of these guys in this year’s trade period so that I’m ready for the draft on the draft comes around.”
Williams said he would have believed it’s time for Talib and Harris to be on the way out even if head coach Vance Joseph were to have been fired this offseason, to some team where they can “add more value.”
“If we would have had another head coach who would have probably come in and said these guys are great, I would have been saying, ‘You know what, it’s time to move on,’” Williams said. “Because you have to break the entire team up and start over. You’ve got to start over.”
Parting with Talib, Harris, or both could spell the end of the “No Fly Zone,” which had back-to-back seasons in 2015 and 2016 as the league’s top-ranked passing defense, giving up less than 200 yards per game to opponents.
In 2017, Denver’s secondary ranked fourth behind the Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, and Los Angeles Chargers, having given up 200.6 yards per game through the air.
A year after being ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus, Harris and Talib graded as the 28th- and 15th-best cornerbacks in the league in 2017.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
