Denver fans, please explain to me what it is exactly that Elway is doing with the Broncos during this off-season? From my point of view, it doesn't appear that he is putting Denver in a position to defend their the Super Bowl championship.
Thus far, Elway has re-signed DE Derek Wolfe, WR Jordan Norwood, TE Richard Gordon, C Sam Brenner, WR Bennie Fowler, C Matt Paradis, and RB C.J. Anderson. He has also added OT Russell Okung from Seattle and OT Donald Stephenson from Kansas City as well as DE Jared Crick from Houston, LS Casey Kreiter from Dallas, and DT Phil Taylor, who didn't play with anyone last year. They also franchise tagged LB Von Miller, who has yet to sign a new contract.
By comparison, Denver has lost at least 8 free agents, including CB Omar Bolden (signed with Chicago), S David Bruton (signed with Washington), TE Vernon Davis (signed with Washington), OT Ryan Harris (signed with Pittsburgh), DE Malik Jackson (signed with Jacksonville), G Evan Mathis (signed with Arizona), QB Brock Osweiler (signed with Houston), and LB Danny Trevathan (signed with Chicago). Denver has also released LS Aaron Brewer, TE Owen Daniels, and G Louis Vasquez. They also traded OT Ryan Clady, a perenniel pro bowler, and a 7th Round pick in this year's draft to the Jets in exchange for the Jets' 5th Round pick in this year's draft.
For a while it seemed as though Denver was losing more players than they were gaining. Now, I realize that the draft is next week and the Broncos, as it stands now, will have 10 draft selections. Denver also appears to have opened up some much needed salary cap space by trading Clady, who despite being one of the team's top offensive lineman, has had trouble staying healthy. He missed both of Denver's recent Super Bowl appearances due to season ending injuries. Clearly, Elway decided he was a liability and made the decision to deal him to the Jets, which appears to be a smart move.
Denver has done themselves well by re-signing Derek Wolfe and franchise tagging Von Miller. If Denver is to contend for their fifth straight division championship in 2016, they must keep as much of their defense intact as possible. Free agency, however, has put a few cracks in that wall. As mentioned above, Denver has lost the services of CB Omar Bolden, S David Bruton, DE Malik Jackson and LB Danny Trevathan. Bruton, Jackson, and Trevathan, in my opinion, are huge losses.
Looking back at the Broncos' 2015 Super Bowl season, David Bruton can easily be credited with preserving at least one Denver victory, the Week 3 win over Detroit. The Broncos led the game by 5 points late in the 4th Quarter and Detroit was moving in position for a potential lead-taking score, when Bruton picked off a Matthew Stafford pass that looked to be heading into the hands of a wide open Calvin Johnson. Instead, Bruton made a fantastic leaping catch, robbing Detroit, and five plays later, Peyton Manning sealed the game with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Owen Daniels. Bruton didn't see action in the post-season after breaking his leg in a December game against Pittsburgh. To his credit, Bruton was on the field for 77 plays after breaking his leg, which is a credit to the type of player he is. Bruton finished the season with 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 49 total tackles and 1 sack.
Malik Jackson will probably be forever remember by Denver fans as the man that returned Cam Newton's first half fumble for a touchdown in Super Bowl 50, a play that the Panthers never seemed to recover from. He proved himself to be one of Denver's top run stoppers and pass rushers and was a key player for Denver's defense throughout the season. Jackson had 45 total tackles in 2015 and 5 sacks.
Danny Trevathan was a key factor in Denver's Super Bowl 50 victory over Carolina. He led the Bronco defense in tackles for the game with 8 and he also had two fumble recoveries. Trevathan led the team in total tackles for the 2015 season with 109. He also intercepted two passes during the season and returned one of them for a touchdown.
So, if your name is John Elway, why are you not re-signing key components of your championship defense. Losing Trevathan alone is huge. Again, he led the team in tackles for the 2015 season, which means no one else on that defense was getting to the ball more often than him. That's tough to replace. I just don't understand why Elway didn't re-sign him.
Don't get me wrong, Denver has kept several of their defensive stars on board for the coming season, the most important being Von Miller. Miller, the Super Bowl 50 MVP, was given Denver's franchise tag and deservedly so. Remember that Malik Jackson fumble recovery for a touchdown that I mentioned earlier? It was Miller that popped the ball free from Cam Newton, a play that seemed to deflate the Panthers for the rest of the game. Miller was huge in the Super Bowl and now he expects to get paid accordingly. Denver apparently wants to sign him to a new contract worth around $18 million, but Miller, according to online reports, wants something closer to $21 million. Of course Miller is currently busy showing off his dancing skills on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars". Until that comes to an end sometime in May, there will likely not be any contract negiotations. Denver will want to get him re-signed before training camp to avoid any chance of Miller holding out during the season.
The Broncos will also return DE Vance Walker, DT Sylvester Williams, DE Derek Wolfe, LB Shaq Barrett, LB Shane Ray, LB DeMarcus Ware, CB Chris Harris Jr., CB Aqib Talib, CB Bradley Roby, CB Kayvon Webster, S T.J. Ward, and S Darian Stewart. Even with all those returnees, there are still some free agents that haven't been dealt with. S Josh Bush, LB Brandon Marshall, S Shiloh Keo, LB Lerentee McCray, DE Antonio Smith and LB Todd Davis are still currently unsigned free agents. Marshall was a key component to the Denver defense in 2015. He had 102 tackles, good for second on the team. The Broncos cannot afford to lose him, especially after already losing Trevathan.
Unless Denver has a huge draft and make some more off-season moves, their streak of five straight AFC West Championships could very well be in jeopardy. By comparison, Kansas City has re-signed 15 free agents thus far and only lost 5. They will return most of the core talent that got them their first playoff win in more than two decades. The biggest question mark for the Chiefs, who finished the 2015 season just one game behind Denver, easily surrounds star LB Justin Houston, who recently underwent knee surgery. He could be back midway through the season or he may miss the season entirely. The Raiders have had a fantastic off-season and continue to build on a young and talented roster. The addition of free agent LB Bruce Irvin from Seattle adds to an already improved defense, which is led by LB Khalil Mack, who is on the verge of becoming a star in the NFL. The Raiders have also made moves to bolster their offensive line and defensive secondary problems as well. Oakland finished the 2015 season with a record of 7-9 and of those 9 losses, 5 were decided by 6 points or less, meaning Oakland could have been at the top of the division had those games turned out differently. The Raiders are on an upswing and will be one to keep an eye on in 2016.
With all of this in mind, if Denver is going to continue to sit at the top of the AFC West, there is one question that must answered immediately and that question is: who is Peyton Manning's replacement? It appeared that Brock Osweiler was being groomed to take over after Peyton retired, but Osweiler took an offer from Houston and left Denver with a gaping hole in their offense.
So how does John Elway solve this problem? The first thing he did was make a deal with Philadelphia for Mark Sanchez in exchange for two conditional picks in the 2017 draft. Since then, rumors have begun to swirl that Elway was interested in Colin Kaepernick, Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Fitzpatrick and even Robert Griffin III, but as of this writing, Denver has made no further moves to fill the hole left behind by Manning and Osweiler. Griffin is now off the table after recently signing with Cleveland. Denver could make a move in two weeks at the draft. It has been reported that Denver is "enamored" with Mississippi State's Dak Prescott and that Denver "loves" North Dakota State's Carson Wentz and it is very possible that Denver will spend their first round pick, the 31st overall, on their quarterback of the future. It is still possible that Denver could sign Fitzpatrick or even make a draft day deal for Kaepernick. Whatever way Elway decides to go, Denver's immediate future, specifically at quarterback, should be told in the next couple of weeks.
So, I ask again, is John Elway doing enough to make sure that Denver continues to be a contender? With two weeks until the NFL draft, it doesn't appear that he has thus far. Is Sanchez, who will forever be remember for his infamous butt fumble, a good acquistion? Well, he did make back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship game during his first two seasons in the NFL, both with the Jets. He does bring playoff experience to the table, though it has been 5 years since he last played in a post-season game. He could flourish in Gary Kubiak's system, but he'll have to find consistency and Denver will have to make sure he has good pass protection in front of him.
Whatever happens with Denver will be interesting. Personally, I think there is about to be a changing of the guard in the AFC West!
