What do we know about the Denver Broncos front office?
On Monday afternoon, it was announced from the Denver Broncos that general manager John Elway would no longer be the general manager of the Denver Broncos, as he will essentially be stepping up in the organization to a consultant role.
Elway will continue to serve as the President of Football Operations but will cede control of the roster to a new GM, who will be picked by a combination of Joe Ellis, John Elway, Matt Russell (who retired yesterday), and Head Coach Vic Fangio.
This atomic bomb dropped onto Broncos Country left a lot of us scrambling for quick answers. Elway met with the media yesterday and revealed some information that can be useful for us fans to be able to form educated opinions.
Here’s some of what we know so far.
For starters, we know that Joe Ellis gave John Elway the opportunity to move up in the organization, and Elway jumped on it. With his seventh grandchild being born on Monday, Elway said he’d like to spend a bit more time with his family but still wants to remain involved with the team. At 60 years old, he isn’t exactly young anymore either.
The Broncos have been talking about this move for a few weeks now, maybe as early as the Buffalo game? We do know that this was not a spur of the moment decision, as it seems it’s been thoroughly thought out, which is generally a good thing.
Matt Russell retired. Dubbed Elway’s right-hand man, Russell has been with the team since 2009 and has a clear record of success. Elway noted that Russell would have been given the opportunity to interview for the now vacant GM position.
The new GM will have final control of the Broncos roster, but he and Vic Fangio will both report to Elway. This is where it gets interesting, as many Broncos players including Justin Simmons and Von Miller’s futures are now way up in the air. Will the new GM prioritize retaining them?
The Broncos are casting a wide net for this GM search, as they should. Elway also noted that they are jumping into this process rather quickly, so I would expect this to be over as such.
John Elway will be involved in the decision on Von Miller. The Super Bowl MVP was Elway’s first draft selection and is a future Hall of Famer. This is a wise move, as working to keep Miller in Denver for the rest of his career would reflect nicely on Elway and the new GM.
Peyton Manning is not likely to be a candidate for the position. Elway said that Peyton has not called about it. Manning would be the “sexy” hire, but he possesses no front office experience and would most likely need to be groomed for several years before taking a front office position.
Overall, Elway will still be a part of the big decisions. Elway is the single most important person in the history of the team, so it makes sense that he will still be involved in the larger decisions.
Names to keep an eye out for include, but are not limited to, Champ Kelly (who has worked for the Broncos before and with Fangio in Chicago), Adam Peters (who was with the Broncos before and currently serves as the Vice President of Player Personnel for the 49ers), Dave Ziegler of the Patriots, and Rick Smith, who served as Broncos Director of Pro Personnel before serving as the GM of the Houston Texans.
Other outsider names that are less likely include John Dorsey, Louis Riddick, and my personal top choice, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network.
So what does this mean for arguably the two most important players for the team in the offseason, Justin Simmons and Drew Lock?
Adam Schefter noted yesterday that Drew Lock will still have a chance to be the guy in 2021. The ball is in his court, and if he wants to capitalize on this opportunity, he needs to, or else he’s gone.
As for Simmons, I actually think he has a very good chance at re-signing. With defensive genius Vic Fangio as head coach, I think he will pound the table for his return. Benjamin Allbright noted that the team was about $600,000 per year short on their contract negotiations with Simmons last offseason, and with another Pro Bowl berth and surely All-Pro selection, that yearly number will probably have to be at $15 million per year.
Currently, the team is way too talented on paper to start blowing it up again, and I do not think Fangio, Elway, Ellis, and Russell would be interested in hiring a GM who would want to come in and immediately start blowing things up.
In fact, I think the complete opposite will happen for 2021. You see, the Broncos were expected to take a giant leap this year, but injuries and COVID had other plans. With the amount of talent that the team had on injured reserve, they will still most likely run it back with what they have.
Drew Lock clearly played better the final four games of the season, and the offense started to take strides.
As for the defense, they were decimated by injuries, and by my count, were missing seven starters against the Raiders on Sunday. Seven starters. For any team, that would most likely mean a blowout loss, but Fangio and his defensive schemes found a way throughout the season to remain competitive.
As such, I would expect the team to remain mostly the same heading in 2021, with the caveat that if the team grossly underperforms, the new GM begins to work his magic. As I stated before, the team is way too talented on paper to blow it up, but if this coaching staff cannot put a competitive product on the field, the new GM will have his way.
And being that Fangio is helping in the hiring process, they are going to hire someone on the same page as him. This is just my opinion, but I think that Fangio’s coaching tenure has reset a bit with a new GM coming in.
The new GM will probably want to give Fangio a chance with the personnel decisions he makes, so I think 2021 will be the last of the “Elway years” if the team underperforms.
Denver Broncos: Options to replace John Elway as general manager
The Denver Broncos will begin their search for a new general manager as John Elway has stepped aside after 10 years. Who will replace him?
Well, Broncos Country our off-season just got exponentially more interesting. Not only does the team have a high draft pick, but we have pricey free agents and a new General Manager who gets to oversee it all.