Broncos' fourth-year undrafted player gives team enough reason to pull off rumored trade

Could the Denver Broncos move one of their starting offensive linemen this offseason?

One of the biggest keys to success in today's NFL is maintaining continuity along the offensive line. Injuries and frequent changes in the lineup can throw off the timing and rhythm of any offense, and having too many moving parts within the offensive line can prove disastrous. 

Broncos head coach Sean Payton knows this as well as anyone, which is why he has tried to install as much consistency as possible with his group. That has led to the team having one of the better offensive lines in football. 

However, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN believes that one of the team's starting offensive linemen could be traded this offseason. 

Broncos could trade guard Ben Powers, according to ESPN

"Two offensive linemen to potentially be included in trades are Green Bay's Elgton Jenkins and Denver's Ben Powers. Both have large cap hits and potential value", wrote Fowler. 

This is an interesting idea, because this talk hasn't really come up this offseason. However, there are reasons why it could make sense, though Broncos fans may immediately scoff at the notion of moving him. 

For starters, looking at Powers' contract, the team could save $12.7 million against the salary cap by trading Powers after June 1. There would be a dead money hit of $5.4 million, but that is still an overall savings of $7.3 million. 

That alone could entice many teams to make a deal, but while Powers missed nine games last season with a torn biceps, former undrafted offensive lineman Alex Palczewski filled in nicely for him. 

Palczewski wasn't even the Broncos' first choice when Powers went down in a Week 5 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The team opted to start Matt Peart the following week and he went down with a knee injury, which led to him missing the remainder of the season. Palczewski stepped into that slot and played much better than Peart.

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The Broncos would likely add a player to compete with Palczewski or at the very least, some form of depth behind him if they dealt Powers. But Palczewski's play over the last three seasons as arguably the best reserve lineman on the roster has proven that the Broncos could move on from Powers and have more ammunition to target free agents when the new league year kicks off on March 11. 

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