Denver Broncos: Big changes coming to roster and coaching staff
The Offense
The Broncos’ current starting lineup could be the punchline of many jokes about the franchise someday, starting with the quarterback position.
The Broncos took the economically responsible route at quarterback after spending a lot of money on Peyton Manning, drafting Paxton Lynch in the first round and attempting to keep the majority of the pieces of their Super Bowl team in-tact around him.
The only problem with that plan was that Lynch wasn’t any good to begin with, and the Broncos couldn’t figure out how to even keep him on the field to get an adequate evaluation of his talent.
As a result, the team has invested nearly 25 games in Trevor Siemian, a former seventh round pick who impressed his rookie preseason, made the roster, and spent a year as an understudy to Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler.
When Osweiler surprisingly left in free agency, Siemian became the only option for the Broncos after failed attempts in free agency, trades, and the aforementioned lack of development of their first rounder Lynch.
Basically, for the past two seasons, the Broncos have been in quarterback purgatory, and because of their investment in Lynch, they didn’t do anything to address the position in 2017, though they were rumored to be among the most interested teams in acquiring Tony Romo, who retired.
The Broncos need to find a fix at the quarterback position, and it has to be this offseason. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Broncos cleaned house and only had Chad Kelly on the roster going into free agency/the draft.
Depending on what Elway feels about the roster as a whole, you could make an argument either way for the Broncos going with a quarterback in free agency or the draft. Depending on who you ask, Denver may be the favored destination of Kirk Cousins.
That would cost the Broncos a lot of coin, but it would also allow them to go a different direction in the early portion of the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, perhaps adding another offensive tackle to the mix so they can solidify their offensive line for years to come.
Elsewhere offensively, there are rumors floating around that the Broncos may be prepared to move on from one or both of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders in trades, though they would have to figure out the financial aspect of either type of move because those players will leave behind a good chunk of dead money.
They could also be prepared to move on from both C.J. Anderson and Jamaal Charles, and completely revamp the tight end position.
The status of center Matt Paradis is also in question, as his long-term health may be an issue and the Broncos might not want to pay him a ton of money if he won’t be healthy for the long-term.