Demaryius Thomas 'emotional' over Broncos' handling of trade

Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is unhappy with how the Denver Broncos treated him prior to last Tuesday's trade that sent him to the Houston Texans.

"It just hurts me, man, I'm emotional," Thomas said in a radio appearance on Monday, according to Mike Klis of 9News.com. "I’m empty still."

He was critical of the Broncos' play-calling in Houston's Week 9 victory, and has since turned his critiques toward general manager John Elway.

"It was so tough,’" Thomas said. "Even leading up to the Kansas City game (October 28) it was tough, because that one day, I didn't say anything to anybody. I walk into the job and Vance Joseph walks up to me and says, 'Don't listen to the trade talks, it's not true.'

"Before the season started, the trade talk was still going, and nobody said anything to me. Why come to me Monday when it's the same talk? When he said that to me, I said, 'How is it not true? My agent (Todd France) called me today and said Elway wanted a fifth-round pick for me.'"

Thomas, who spent eight-and-a-half seasons with the Broncos after being chosen with the No. 22 pick of the 2010 NFL Draft, ended up being dealt in exchange for a fourth-round pick and a swap of seventh-rounders.

Thomas recorded five consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns from 2012 through 2016. He scored double-digit touchdowns in the first three of those seasons but failed to top five scores in each of the past three years.

He felt criticisms toward him in his final days in Denver were unfair.

"I heard they were saying that Vance was saying something, and Elway was saying something. I did so much for this organization and never had nothing bad to say about anybody - none of the players I played with. I just did my job and kept it as professional as I could," Thomas said. "For you all to say that I was one of the reasons that the offense wasn't going, and say this and that, man, that hurt."