Sir Purr
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
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Bouye started his career as an undrafted rookie with the Texans, but grew into a productive starter there. That earned him a free agent payday with the Jaguars in 2017, as he signed a five-year, $67.5 million deal to jump across the division in free agency.
He paid immediate dividends, with six interceptions that year, as teams generally tried to avoid his teammate Jalen Ramsey. Creating turnovers like that was a big part of why the Jaguars advanced to the AFC Championship Game.
Jacksonville traded Bouye to Denver last March, but the Broncos released him for cap reasons this spring.
He's started 69 games in his career, and has 14 career interceptions (including one off new teammate Sam Darnold in 2019).
As general manager Scott Fitterer explained Monday after trading for Darnold, the goal of every offseason is to have as many blanks filled in on the depth chart prior to the draft, so you're not drafting to fill a specific position.
"What we wanted to do going into this draft, through free agency, through this trade with Sam, was to just get rid of all the needs we have," Fitterer said. "We wanted to get to a place where the roster was in a good spot, and we could take the best available player at number eight.
"We could always move up, and we could always move back, but this puts us in a position to make the right football decision for this team moving forward."
Bouye is another step in that direction, leaving defensive tackle as one of the few glaring spots of need on the roster.