The AFC West didn't experience a release of talent with the Oakland Raiders cutting cornerback Stanford Routt recently; rather, the talent just shifted elsewhere to the division: the Kansas City Chiefs. The cornerback signed a three-year, $19.6 million deal on Monday, quite possibly signaling the end of Brandon Carr's time with the Chiefs.
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We've already mentioned the possibility of the Broncos looking at Carr, but we're not a lone voice in this. ESPN's Bill Williamson also thinks the Broncos could go after Carr:
I thought Denver would be the favorite in the division to land Routt, but the Broncos reportedly never had any interest. Carr could pair nicely with the aging Champ Bailey for the short term. The Broncos could then have Carr take over as the No.1 cornerback if Bailey is eventually moved to safety. The Broncos have cap room and I could see them looking at Carr.
The Broncos have $49 million in cap space and could certainly go a spending spree, but the blowback from that could eventually saddle the team with a number of bad contracts. If Carr wants to be paid like a No. 1 corner, the Broncos might not want to bite on him -- just as they did by not pursuing DeAngelo Williams last offseason since he received a monster contract for a running back. In that case, the Broncos signed Willis McGahee to a relative bargain of a contract. The Broncos could look to do the same at cornerback this year or draft one in April.
Williamson believes the Raiders would be a top suitor for the Raiders, but only if they clear salary cap space to sign him. He finds the Chargers to be the least likely of the teams in the AFC West to pick up the cornerback.
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