The trade that was set to send Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley to the Denver Broncos is off, and Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh is calling on the NFL to examine what he describes as a loophole that caused the agreement to collapse.
Both teams announced the deal ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline, and both noted it was contingent on Henley completing a physical. That examination is what ultimately unraveled the trade. According to ESPN, the physical raised concerns inside Denver's front office about Henley's knee. When the Broncos announced the deal would not be finalized, they did not disclose a reason.
Speaking Thursday after the trade fell apart, Harbaugh said the Broncos used their findings from the physical to renegotiate compensation once the deadline had passed. League rules permit that, provided the teams do not add other players to the trade package. The original agreement called for Denver to send a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to Los Angeles in exchange for Henley.
"The Broncos based a pass/fail on a medical grade based on whether we would take less compensation," Harbaugh said. "We wouldn't, and we didn't. In my opinion, it's one of those loopholes that the league should really look into, because it sets a bad precedent and continues to set a bad precedent."
In Harbaugh's telling, Denver was still open to parting with the 2027 fourth-round pick but wanted to reduce the value of the second selection. ESPN reported the Broncos countered with a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder, or a fourth-rounder plus a pick swap. Denver reportedly still wanted Henley, just not at the agreed-upon price.
"That's why it's a loophole, and teams should not have the ability to do that," Harbaugh said. "It's a medical grade. It's a pass/fail for a medical trade. They told us they weren't going to pass him if there was a fourth and a fifth, which was agreed upon. They would not pass him for that. They would pass him for a fourth and a 'fill in the blank.' I don't know what to call that, but that's what it is."
"Medical grades should be based on pass/fail, what the medical grade is, not being used by an organization to get less compensation for a trade that was agreed upon," Harbaugh added. In his view, teams should not be allowed to rework trade terms after the deadline, regardless of what a physical does or does not reveal.
Henley's recent medical history is fairly clean. He has missed only three games in his NFL career, and just two of those, back in 2023, because of injury. He appeared on the injury report in Week 6 with a knee issue but practiced in a limited fashion all three days and played in that week's game. He was on last week's injury report as well, though for a shoulder problem rather than another knee ailment, and he practiced in full on Thursday and Friday.
The deal would have been a major upgrade in surroundings for Henley, moving him from the NFL's only winless squad to the AFC West leader. Despite the Chargers' struggles, he leads the team in tackles with 51 and fumble recoveries with two, and he has added two tackles for loss and an interception across his first eight games this year. Since joining the starting lineup in 2024, he has been a perennial 100-tackle linebacker and is on pace to reach that mark again this season.
Denver's starting inside linebacker spots are already filled by Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad, so Henley likely would have arrived as a premier depth option for a stout defense. Instead he remains with the Chargers, playing out the final year of his rookie contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent at season's end.
