Report: Broncos Acquiring Pro Bowl CB A.J. Bouye via Trade With Jaguars

We've heard rumblings for weeks but on Tuesday, all the smoke turned into a full-blown conflagration as the Denver Broncos agreed to a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire cornerback A.J. Bouye.

The Broncos and Jaguars have agreed on a trade that would send cornerback A.J. Bouye to Denver for a 2020 fourth-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.

The trade cannot be processed until the new league year begins March 18th.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2020

Getting a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback like Bouye in exchange for a fourth-round pick is a massive coup for GM John Elway. Per NFL Network's James Palmer, the Broncos used the fourth-rounder they got in return for dealing WR Emmanuel Sanders to San Francisco last fall.

Bouye is a former college free agent, like Chris Harris, Jr., who battled his way into the NFL with the Houston Texans. After a breakout year in 2016, in which Bouye finally became a starter, he signed a lucrative multi-year deal with the Jaguars. In 2017, he posted a career year in Jacksonville, with six interceptions and 16 passes defensed, which led to his one Pro Bowl selection.

Bouye hasn't been as dominant over the last two seasons, but it's hard to say whether that's due to the talent around him slowly regressing, scheme, or the player simply taking a step backward. He'll turn 29 in August, which means he's still got a few good years left in the tank on the tail-end of his prime.

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The Broncos will absorb his contract, which comes with a $13 million base salary in 2020 and 2021. It's unclear at this stage whether a new deal will be offered but we can't rule it out. None of Bouye's salary is guaranteed per Nick Korte of Over The Cap.

AJ Bouye will be due $13.5 million in 2020 and 2021. None of the money is guaranteed, either in full or part.https://t.co/qNQOuwfCqF https://t.co/BwoY0PmKD3
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) March 3, 2020

Either way, for a long corner like Bouye (6-foot, 191 pounds) still in his prime, the Broncos nabbed themselves a premium player. Bouye is an excellent fit for Vic Fangio's defense, where he can match up and use his instincts to break up passes and his length to jam and disrupt receivers on the boundary.

The trade will eat away at the Broncos' projected cap space. Before the trade, the Broncos had an estimated $70M in cap space, and without knowing whether a new deal will come in the wake of the Bouye trade being consummated later this month, it's probably best to simply subtract his $13M base salary from the running total.

It's unclear at this stage what this means for Harris, Jr.'s prospects of re-signing with the Broncos. But considering the buzz coming out of the Combine, Harris, Jr. will have a hot market for his services when free agency opens on March 18.

But if Elway could find a way to get him re-signed before he hits the market, it would give the Broncos three bonafide corners to rely on, counting of course Bryce Callahan who's coming back from foot surgery. However, the Bouye trade could signal the inverse — that the Broncos are moving on from Harris, Jr. Only time will tell.

The Broncos have also flirted with the idea of acquiring CB Darius Slay from Detroit. But whatever the Lions' ask was, it appears to have been too steep for Elway, who instead gave up a day-three draft pick to acquire a No. 1 corner from Jacksonville.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.