A week after leaving defensive tackle Gerard Warren off the road trips to San Francisco and Dallas, the Broncos traded the seventh-year veteran defensive tackle to the Oakland Raiders for an undisclosed draft pick.
The trade ends a two-year stint that began two years ago when the Broncos received the 2001 first-round pick from the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2005 draft.
Until the last week, Warren had been running with the first team at Broncos training camp and was coming off two seasons in which he started all 31 games in which he played, logging 93 tackles and 5.5 sacks over his two years with Denver.
The trade with the arch-rival Raiders is rare. The Broncos’ 2007 media guide lists no trades with the Raiders since 1993, when they still called Los Angeles home. In that swap, the Broncos acquired a third-round pick in exchange for running back Gaston Green.
Also of note … even after the last week, Warren remained atop the depth chart at the right defensive tackle slot. The name right behind his at the position was fellow University of Florida product Marcus Thomas, whom the team selected in the fourth round of the April NFL Draft after making a deal with the Minnesota Vikings to acquire the selection.
Tags: Defensive linemen, Gerard Warren
Hard to believe that after how poorly the run defense has looked thus far, we still didn’t have a need for Gerard Warren’s services. I have a feeling this trade will come back to haunt us…
Broncos NEEDS!
a. #2 Reciever- How can Brandon Stockly have the #2 reciever spot when he has not done anything all preseason. Either allow Brian Clark or Hixon to play or pick up a vet that is not hurt (Charles Rogers etc.) Football should not have politics.
b. We need a DE that can get into the backfield. Our rookies will be good but they need time to grow. (Simion Rice)
C. Another RB. Mike Bell is not a Franchise RB/everydown RB. He not even in the same field as Marion Barber of the Dallas Cowboys!!
d. Offense Line help.
Denver needs Help and they need to start picking the free agent list.
This trade really points out how BADLY the coaches wanted to unload Warren. Because facing a (G.) Warren and Warren (Sapp) combo twice a year doesn’t sound fun…
I hope Bates & Shanahan know what their doing.
Jonathan Douglas
http://www.mydenverobsession.com
of the 15 players currently listed on the interior linemen depth chart, Lepsis, Pears, Meadows, Holland, Washburn, Akah, Fenton, McAlmont, and Rogers (9) are all some type of free agent. I dont know if the Free Agency ranks are the best source of the solution. Afterall, seems most of these are some other teams rejects. Seems an outright trade for an experienced OL to protect cutler in the pocket and open up holes in short yardage situations would be a good idea. Maybe give Eslinger, the 2005 NCAA Best Offensive Lineman (Outland Trohy), a chance at guard. Almost the same size as his big UofMn brother, Ben Hamilton, and Tom Nalen.
Who are our DT’s now? Thomas and Kennedy?
The remaining DTs are Sam Adams, Jimmy Kennedy, Amon Gordon, Marcus Thomas, Alvin McKinley, Steven Harris, Antwon Burton and Demetrin Veal.
This season will be full of the same problems as last season. Our offensive and defensive lines are horrendous.
For those of you who watched the Cowboys pre-season game, Cutler had no time in the pocket to throw passes.
This is going to be a long season for us…
Maybe Cutler should scramble like Plummer did in his good years. The offensive line was fine then. Either Cutler has to change or the O-line has to change/work harder. No doubt, the latter. Some of the new acquisitions are bigger but as you say and saw Cutler is still under pressure. Akah, a bigger player but undrafted free agent rookie, was suppose to help, he got hurt. Same with Washburn. Are these guys expected back or are they IR already?
Fenton, another CFA and unproven. Holland, another bigger player brought in to supposedly protect Cutler in the pocket, had a bad year at NO last year. Who knows how much is left in his tank. McAlmont, another bigger guy, is another FA, cut by the Giants and out of football his rookie year. Pears and Meadows are questionable but promising. Rogers has a lot to prove. Myers, Kuper, and Eslinger are the best hopes for backups to Lepsis, Hamilton and Nalen. Kuper is having a bad training camp, slipping between 1st and 2nd team depending on the charts and the starters of the preseason games. Eslinger hangs on at 2nd team center as a single position player, apparently on the back burner until Nalen retires after 2008 (a luxury I dont know if Shanahan will approve). My 9 keepers are (9 were kept in 2006): Lepsis, Hamilton, Nalen, Eslinger, Pears, Myers, Kuper, Holland and Meadows. A trade is predictable if Cutler is going to survive his pocket style.
I dunno guys i think our d-line should be fine, like lynch said we ran two fronts and coverages against cowboys, and they went blitz crazy which should only help us agains the 3-4 defenses we face in regular season… but i am sick and tired of this read and react defense especially in the secondary, example… 3rd and 5 or 6 and our dbs are playin 7, 8 yards off receiver? whats that about, we have got to get off the field on 3rd downs or we are gonna wear down towards the end of this year like the end of last year… if we cant get pressure with front four then we need to blitz and play tighter man coverage…
by the way i am turning into a huge dre bly fan, he’s a bigger ball hawk than champ, im tired of champ playin off receivers not trying to get beat deep and letting teams dunk us all the way down field! GREAT DEFENSES GET OFF THE FIELD ON 3RD DOWN, PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!
i think we ougth to give Coaches Mike and Jim Bates a chance to prove what their point is by trading warren to the Raiders!!! though I hate the sound of it…not that we lost Ekuban for the season, we lost a great leader (Al Wilson)… though our defense in corners are terrific but the way things going blocking the run offense is just way intolerable. I was watching the game using play-by-play in nfl.com…and my Golly…you can see the figures,drawings that when the cowboys or the niners run…they’ll be able to…not unlike last year…that we’re like the Ravens to at any point we can stop the run.
sad to say… i just cant watch live games here in the philippines since im always at work during SNF or MNF watching the blue and orange play against any team esp. the black and silver..grrrrrrrrr1!!! ….its morning here in our country….
I dont question that Shanahan is a great coach but why is it that we get the same smug answers to questions about personel decisions. Coach why did you trade Gerald Warren? Coach Shanahan replies we did what was best for the organization. Why can’t the man be questioned ? He and Sundquist made another bad free agent decision and nobody second quesses what he does. Why would you trade with another team in the division. It is the number one thing you don’t do. Look at the Chiefs they would not trade Wesley to the Broncos because GUESS What he is in there division. I thought the Broncos had there best draft of all time last year by drafting Cutler and combo that with getting Javon Walker wow! BUt you look at the last draft so -so with Ryan Harris having another back surgery. Making the trade to get Moss, and trading all the picks to get Thomas because in Shanahan view the Broncos are a player away from getting to the Superbowl. Lets look at Sam Adams who is a stiff and Kennedy who the Horrible Rams gave up on. What is the rat doing? Adams got pancaked by Leonard Davis of the Cowboys on there second touchdown.
I know its the Preseason but give me a break, why wouldn’t you gameplan against a defense that you tell everyone all week you want to go against and get a different look. THis team is a second teir playoff team lets face reality.
Guys Listen to yourselves,
Ojibwe- Yes Mike Bell isn’t a starter that’s why we have Travis, and he will be great this year behind a healthy line. He wont play the rest of the Pre-season from what 9-News Says because our line isn’t healthy and we don’t need a star like Travis running behind a line with a few holes. A number 2 receiver? Did you not watch the game, because Brandon Marshal is going to be amazing! They are calling him baby T.O. and I am sure after 4 practices watching T.O. he got some knowledge from him and will fill that name. Shockley is a WR that played with Payton and will be able to adjust fast. Our DE’s are good and we will do fine, and Marcus Thomas did. Amazing Saturday at DT! Finally Our OL Is injured you didn’t see our best OL this Saturday, and probably wont untell the last game of the pre-season. So maybe you should read more or research more before trying to tell people how to do their jobs.
Look Bronco fans we are all mad about the loss, and we expect to see some improvements. The last thing we need is people going back and talking about oh Jake Plummer did this great and blah de blah. We are the ones that demanded a change at QB and now people are wishing it never happened. We have a good set up, but when you go in against a team (with a hew head coach) that we played all week and made look bad. That new head Coach is going to do things to scheme and to try and replenish the pride of his players.
Now that I got that last Comment out of my system. Andrew a quick question for you: Do you think the performance from Marcus Thomas this Saturday warrants excitement, or any possibility of seeing him get some playing time with the starters during this pre-season?
It’s only preseason guys let’s be paitent and see what happens with the last two games. The Regular season against the Bills is roughly 20 days away and alot can happen and I’m for sure the team will be ready. Go Broncos!
ahh.. alright you damn cry fans wanna be coach.. thats why none of you are coaches or players because you were all not good enough to get in the big leagues.. If you are a real die hard broncos fan support the team no matter what.. this is just one game and it dont even count.. damn people chill out.. the team will be alright..
I totally agree with oc60.. It’s only preseason guys let’s be paitent and see what happens with the last two games.
Broncos all the way
100%
Dekreybroncofan:
Thomas’ play Saturday is cause for optimism, but it’s still only one game … so let’s see how he does this week. The promising sign for him is that he appears to be working his way into “football shape,” so to speak. At times early in training camp he looked to me like a guy who had missed the last two months of practice/games from the previous season, but now he looks back to his old form he displayed at Florida before everything hit the fan. Remember, Sam Adams is likely to only play 20-25 plays a game — per what Jim Bates said back in June upon signing him — so a guy like Thomas is going to have to step in and play substantially. Also, when Tim Crowder gets healthy, look for him to potentially see some action at D-tackle, since he was really the backup for Ekuban’s role (DE with the base unit, DT in long-yardage/pass-rush situations).
Shanahan knows what he is doing.
the dallas coach has a chip on his shoulder fired from denver then the broncos come in and play great in practice plus you are a new coach in your city your gonna try and win he blitzed nearly every time the running game did not look good because there were more guys coming than they could block and anyway the offesive line is nicked up so dont go questioning the offensive along with jay cutler he is in his second season and needs support although trading gerrard because he didnt fit the system then i dont really see marcus thomas fitting in either jim bates you let a former quarter back have a good game in san fran i think you should rethink your reasons for trading gerrard i could understand maybe he was too expensive for the team with all the free agents but a player with effort can play way better than a giant guy who looks like he has been at the buffey for most of his life (sam adams) i didnt see the bengals d looking that great with him in