With the signing of Russell Okung, the Denver Broncos’ longest-tenured player, Ryan Clady, looks to be headed out the door.

Clady, who was in talks to restructure his contract before the Okung signing, is expected to count as $10.1 million against the cap next season, seventh most amongst all left tackles. Given the Broncos cap situation, Clady’s health concerns and the fact that Okung is only scheduled to make $5 million in 2016, it doesn’t make sense to keep Clady around, especially when they can save roughly $9 million by trading or cutting the former All Pro.

Obviously, John Elway would love to find a trade for Clady. While he could cut him today, the Broncos would be much better served getting something back in return, even if it’s just a late-round draft pick.

The concern, though, is: Is there a franchise that would trade for a beat-up left tackle like Clady?

Not only are there serious concerns about his health — and consequently, his playing ability — but the entire league knows that Denver is going to eventually cut ties with Clady if they can’t find a deal; why wouldn’t they just wait until he’s on the open market and grab him then?

Well, they might, but if they’re concerned that another organization will be quicker to the draw, a general manager could pull the trigger early and come to terms on a trade that will get Clady in their building before anyone else gets the chance to speak to him. And according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, that’s exactly what seems to be the case.

If true, then the Denver Broncos are quickly finding themselves in a great situation. If they can play these four to five teams off each other long enough to move their return compensation from a sixth-round pick to a fourth- or fifth-round pick, then Elway would have played this whole process perfectly.