Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and move on.
Which brings us to Javon Walker, not exactly a name that elicits smiles at Dove Valley. Smirks, maybe, but not smiles.
Walker represents one of the bigger personnel mistakes of the Mike Shanahan era. Not only did the Broncos pay him a decent chunk of change for one productive season, they gave up a second-round draft choice to get him.
Walker was shown the door after his second season in Denver, whereupon the Raiders inexplicably gave him a six-year, $55-million contract. So what happens? Walker barely made it through a half-season before an ankle injury ended his season.
His numbers for the 2008 season: 15 catches, 196 yards, one touchdown. Basically Brandon Marshall’s stat line vs. the Chargers in Week 2.
The point isn’t to rip Walker, a nice kid who can’t seem to get his career back on track. It’s to credit the Broncos for being proactive, for reacting to a mistake instead of rationalizing it.
Instead of bringing back Walker for a third year, knowing he was damaged goods and viewed as a selfish player by some of his teammates, they bit the financial bullet and let him go.
But that’s not the end of the story. With Walker gone, they needed a wide receiver to take the pressure off Marshall. And so it was that, with their second-rounder this year, they selected Virginia Tech’s Eddie Royal.
Moral to the story: In today’s NFL, with the salary cap defining how you do business, you have tough decisions to make. Shanahan made one with Walker and it has paid off big time in the end.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
