Denver Broncos: John Elway endorses Drew Lock at Combine

Denver Broncos general manager John Elway gave as strong of an endorsement for quarterback Drew Lock as we have heard at the 2020 Combine.

In just about any other year, at least since Peyton Manning retired, this year’s crop of free agent quarterbacks would have Denver Broncos general manager John Elway salivating.

Elway loves him some veteran QBs, having signed Peyton Manning in 2012 and then following that up by attempting to acquire the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Tony Romo, Kirk Cousins, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, and I’m sure plenty of others along the way.

It’s a lot easier to build a contending team in the NFL if you can get a quarterback out there who not only knows what he’s doing but is already proven good at it.

A free agent class including players like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, and potentially other players like Andy Dalton, Derek Carr, and Cam Newton also available for the right price is very tempting for Elway.

Would Elway really turn down the chance to chat with Tom Brady about playing for the Denver Broncos?

"“We’d always talk to him, but I think that we’re happy with what we have with Drew.”John Elway (via Broncos PR)"

Elway also talked about how he hoped Brady would stay in New England and how no matter what, he’ll always be a Patriot.

The Broncos, for the first time since Elway took over the team in 2011, are not focused on bringing in a veteran quarterback to take up the biggest chunk of available cap space the team has. For the first time in the John Elway era, the Broncos have a young quarterback to build around.

"“We’re thrilled the way Drew finished—finished 4-1. I think where we sit right now there is no question that Drew is the guy that we’re looking to. Obviously, you want to be able to improve as a football team, get him some weapons on the offensive side, but also do some things on the defensive side. The process begins now…I think we are—since Peyton retired—trying to look for that guy. It’s a tough position to fill. Where we are, we’re excited about Drew. It’s nice to have a young guy to be able to build around and feel like you got a guy that has the potential to be a long-time starter for you. The sky’s the limit for him. It depends on how he continues to improve. We feel better in that situation. Obviously, it’s a unique (free agent) quarterback class too this year.John Elway, emphasis added"

There is no question that Drew is the guy…

Looking to get him some weapons on the offensive side…

We’re excited about Drew.

It’s nice to have a young guy to be able to build around.

It’s nice to feel like you got a guy that has the potential to be a long-time starter for you…

All anyone is going to want to talk about is the fact that John Elway said something about being willing to talk with Tom Brady, yet they will completely overlook the things he said about Drew Lock.

This is the most ‘committed’ Elway has sounded in regards to Lock all offseason.

Considering the fact that head coach Vic Fangio convinced Elway to wait until February to go back to the 2019 film and evaluate the roster, the comments Elway is making here are coming from the vantage point of having waited to evaluate Lock and see things after the ‘moment’ had passed by.

Fangio’s strategy of waiting to evaluate the roster takes emotion out of the equation — to a degree — and makes it much more of an educated decision.

Fangio also said that he’s as comfortable with Lock as ‘the guy’ as he can be at this point.

Elway’s comments at the Scouting Combine reinforced the fact that this team is Drew Lock’s moving forward. Fangio leaving Joe Flacco out of the list of potential backups for Lock was also telling of the team’s direction at the position.

The Broncos know they are putting an offseason plan together to build around Lock, and like Elway said — that’s nice to be able to do.