This time last year, Bradley Roby was a starting cornerback for the Denver Broncos and Kareem Jackson was a starting cornerback for the Houston Texans.
365 days later, the roles are reversed. Roby starts for the Texans; Jackson, as a safety, does the same for the Broncos.
On Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium, Roby will face his former team and vice-versa for Jackson. Broncos cornerback Chris Harris, who has now played with both, believes the matchup will be personal for each.
“I think it’s going to be personal for Kareem and ‘Rob.’ Both teams kind of didn’t want each other, so I definitely know for them they’re going to have a chip on their shoulder,” Harris told Denver media Tuesday. “I know ‘Rob’ is going to come up and try and show that we should have kept him, and same thing with Kareem.”
As Harris alludes to, the Texans didn’t want Jackson, the Broncos didn’t want Roby. After signing with the Broncos — to the tune of three-year, $33 million — in March, Jackson said he felt disrespected by the Texans.
“They didn’t even approach me with an offer or any type of deal,” said Jackson on March 11, per Mark Berman of FOX 26. “Obviously they didn’t want me back or whatever the case may be. I’m not really sure. My agent was never approached by anybody from the Texans.”
The Broncos let Roby walk, despite him being their first-round pick in 2014 and a starter. He chose to sign with the Texans on a one-year, $10 million deal, spurning offers from the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers.
Both Jackson and Roby are thriving with their respective teams. Jackson has seamlessly switched to a full-time safety, allowing 248 yards in coverage in 2019, per Pro Football Reference. Roby has seen his passer rating allowed go from 113.8 to 74.5.
Sunday’s matchup looks to be a revenge game for a pair of defensive backs that swapped teams.