Denver Broncos: 4 most critical decisions facing new GM

Denver Broncos: 4 most critical decisions facing new GM.

Soon, the Denver Broncos will hire a new general manager. The team will exhaust plenty of options and interview a number of candidates for the job, and rightfully so.

The Broncos are a team very much in transition right now from the top of the organization on down.

The ownership situation is unresolved for the time being, John Elway is moving up the chain of command but without his GM responsibilities, Matt Russell will no longer be around as the front office no.2, and obviously, a new general manager coming in almost always means a lot of “new” all over the team personnel-wise.

Despite the state of transition the team is in at the top, the Denver Broncos still have to put together a team for 2021 and there is too much talent on the roster to let ownership issues hinder the progress that has been made over the past three years in terms of loading up the roster with young players worth building around.

Whenever a new GM comes in and whoever that GM ends up being, they have some critical decisions to make. What are they?

Here are the top four.

1. Determine the fate of Drew Lock

Whatever general manager is hired for the Denver Broncos, they will need to spend a good amount of time on the clock with the holdovers from the previous staff determining the future of Drew Lock.

The new GM will need to pour over Lock’s film, evaluate him critically and fairly, and quickly come to a decision about what the team is going to do for 2021 and beyond.

When John Elway was hired in 2011, it would have been easy to take the top QB on his board with Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow as the team’s top two quarterbacks he inherited from the previous regime. Elway stayed patient, stuck with that duo in 2011, and obviously planned on re-evaluating the next offseason.

Or maybe he just thought the Broncos would be bad enough to be in position for Andrew Luck, who knows?

One way or another, Elway’s patience paid off in the form of Peyton Manning through 2012 free agency. Year one does not have to be the year a new GM comes in and shakes up the QB spot, but there could be some interesting veteran names available like Dak Prescott (although the Cowboys will obviously work hard to keep him), Matthew Stafford, and Carson Wentz.

The availability of those players could at the very least give a GM reason to pause, but the thought of going after a young quarterback to replace a young quarterback while keeping the same coaching staff intact does not seem like the wisest move for a first-time GM, at least not without a real shot at Trevor Lawrence (who will go 1st overall to the Jaguars).

Drew Lock showed tremendous progress over the final five or six weeks of the season. He showed progress over the whole of the season but his command in Pat Shurmur’s offense and Shurmur’s innovation both ramped up as the season came to a close.

There are enough good and fixable things on tape to buy into Lock for one more season, but the new GM should feel free to bring in a talented hedge. My top option would be Mitch Trubisky, and if Champ Kelly winds up being the Broncos’ hire at GM, that could certainly end up happening.

Whether he’s cleaning house at QB or sticking with Drew, the new GM’s top priority will be choosing a 2021 path at quarterback and staying convicted to it.