DENVER
A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that the Denver Broncos have agreed to trade left tackle Ryan Clady to the New York Jets along with a seventh-round pick for a fifth-round selection in the upcoming NFL draft.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams hadn’t announced the trade, which was first reported by ESPN.
The move will free up nearly $9 million in cap space for the Super Bowl champs who are searching for a quarterback to help them defend their title.
It gives the Jets a replacement for the retired D’Brickashaw Ferguson, who played 10 seasons in the NFL and never missed a snap because of injury. Clady, however, played only 18 games the last three seasons.
The 32-year-old Ferguson made his retirement from football official Saturday in an open, heartfelt letter to fans.
“As I considered the words I would say to you,” Ferguson wrote in the letter posted on his Facebook and Twitter pages, “I recognize a simple truth: it just isn’t easy saying goodbye.”
Clady will give them a starting-caliber replacement for Ferguson, but the immensely talented left tackle has often been injured.
The 12th overall selection out of Boise State in 2008 was the longest tenured Bronco but missed both of Denver’s Super Bowl appearances in the last three seasons, first with a foot injury and then a knee injury. He tore his left ACL last May and missed the season.
He also sustained a knee injury in the offseason early in his career that robbed him of some of his lateral movement for a couple of seasons, even though he didn’t miss any games.
Clady’s departure frees up $8.9 million in salary cap space for the Broncos, who signed tackles Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson last month.
He told The Associated Press a week before Super Bowl 50 that he wanted to be a “lifetime Bronco” and was willing to restructure his contract to assure that. He’s due $9.5 million in 2016 and $10 million in 2017.
Clady, whose five-year, $52.5 million contract signed in 2013 is the largest ever for a Broncos offensive lineman, underwent knee surgery last June.
Broncos general manager John Elway, who has a draft class to sign along with perhaps a veteran quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Von Miller, whom he franchise tagged, could create another $9.18 million in cap space by converting receiver Demaryius Thomas’ $13 million base salary next season into a signing bonus.
AP Sports Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. contributed to this story from New York.
