More Details Emerge About Failed Henley Trade

Fallout continues to emerge from the failed trade between the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers involving linebacker Daiyan Henley, and Jonathan Jones of The Athletic taking a deeper dive into the situation that revealed some new details. 

According to Jones, Henley spent nearly an hour with Broncos GM George Paton. He toured the facilities, and Henley created social media content for the team. The linebacker was even given a tablet with the defensive playbook to get him started on the learning process during Denver’s bye week, the writer added, which indicates that this was very close to a done deal. 

Until it wasn’t. 

Jones turned to league sources to explain the rest. The story there is that Henley has a known knee issue, but he’s played every game without requiring surgery. His durability extends back to the beginning of his career as well, as the linebacker has played in all but one game since 2024, and he’s been on the field for 87 percent of the Chargers’ defenisve snaps. 

The Chargers supposedly had a fourth-round offer on the table for Henley, but they wanted more. The linebacker is scheduled to be a free agent in March, and he’s considered one of their best players in addition to being their leading tackler.

Serious back-and-forth ensued, according to Jones, and the Broncos finally added a fifth-round pick in 2028. The Chargers were hoping to re-sign Henley in March, and doing that plus getting two mid-round picks for him would have been a coup for LA.

The Broncos were aware they might lose Henley after making the deal, but their logic was that they’d get a compensatory pick if the linebacker played well enough to make himself unaffordable, but that’s where the problems started. 

Denver’s medical information didn’t match up with what the Chargers provided, and according to Jones they consulted both their doctor and an independent physician. That left Paton with the choice go ahead with the trade, void the deal or try to rework the transaction with different draft picks on the table. 

The writer also added that the Broncos consulted with NFL Management Council about all this, although we still haven’t officially heard from the league about all the controversy. We do know the NFL wouldn’t allow player substitutions, and another GM Jones used as a source said “you either walk away or do the deal.”

But this sort of thing is happening more often, and clarity is expected next March at the league meetings. That doesn’t help either team right now, and the animus here seems to be very real.