Julius Thomas became a big part of the Denver Broncos' offense the past two seasons, but apparently the Broncos didn't think he was all that irreplaceable.
Thomas has reached an agreement with the Jacksonville Jaguars (oooooh, the NFL will be mad about that getting out!), as reported by multiple outlets including Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson. That's not a huge surprise; the Jaguars have a boatload of cap room and Thomas was perhaps the best free agent who hadn't been spoken for aside from New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The surprise comes from Mike Klis of the Denver Post: The Broncos didn't make the slightest effort to retain Thomas. Literally. They never made an offer to Thomas and according to Klis, they never even made one call to Thomas' agent to even gauge his desire to return.
Sure, everyone knew Thomas was going to get a large deal in free agency. But to make no attempt has to say something, either about how the Broncos feel about Thomas or that they feel he can be easily replaced. There's no obvious replacement on the roster now, however. Thomas caught 24 touchdowns the past two years as the Broncos won AFC West titles each season. The offense went to a historic level in 2013 when Thomas had his breakout season, becoming the first NFL team to score 600 points in a regular season. But they'll go on without him.
It's a nice get for the Jaguars, who are quietly giving quarterback Blake Bortles, last year's first-round pick, some good young weapons. Maybe the Broncos will regret losing their blossoming tight end, even if they didn't give off the impression over the past few months that they'd miss him.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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