Deshaun Watson should prefer the Denver Broncos over others
I know, I know…a trade for Deshaun Watson is unlikely, but it is still possible.
The Broncos apparently made an offer for Matthew Stafford, so why wouldn’t they do the same for Watson?
With Watson’s no-trade clause, he can essentially tell the Texans where he wants to play, and he surely has a few teams in mind. Heck, nearly the entire league should be interested in his services.
With that said, the Denver Broncos should be a strong suitor for the signal-caller, and, of the teams that were in on the Matthew Stafford trade, the Broncos have the best current situation.
Top to bottom, from the front office all the way down to the custodians, the Denver Broncos have the best situation to offer to Deshaun Watson, if he so desires to bring his talents to the Mile High City.
Deshaun Watson should prefer the Broncos’ offensive weapons
It’s no secret that Deshaun Watson, outside of Brandin Cooks, had a supporting cast of some kitchen utensils and flat tires last year in Houston. It wasn’t pretty. Watson often ran for his life behind an offensive line that could not stop my 12-year-old, 22-pound dog.
Fortunately, Denver offers the complete opposite. The Broncos have a young and skilled offensive line coached by Mike Munchak. Garett Bolles cemented himself as one of the league’s premier tackles last year, and rookie center Lloyd Cushenberry played every snap.
Furthermore, the Broncos have elite skill players as well. Courtland Sutton is a Pro Bowler, Jerry Jeudy is wildly talented, Tim Patrick just enjoyed a career year, and K.J. Hamler might be faster than Tyreek Hill.
Not only that, Noah Fant was statistically a top-seven tight end this year, Albert Okwuegbunam, in limited action, proved his worth, and Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay make for a deadly running back tandem.
In short, the Broncos have a plethora of weapons for Deshaun Watson, and it is very likely that we would not have to give up much offensively to make a trade. Last offseason, especially after the draft, the Broncos garnered national media attention for the offensive core they were putting together.
It seems as if some of that fire has burned out because of a disappointing season, but the Broncos could easily boast a top-five offense if Deshaun Watson got to throw to Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy all game long.
Stability
The Broncos will be entering year three of the Vic Fangio experience, and the team just gave recently hired General Manager George Paton a 6-year deal.
Not only that, Vic Fangio was in the room during the Broncos process in picking a new General Manager. All of the talk would indicate that this is a make or break year for Fangio, but I do not entirely buy that.
Fangio is widely respected as the best defensive mind in the game, and if the team were to fire him tomorrow, he’d have a job the next day. Fangio is an asset to the team, and, while George Paton surely has some names in mind as future head coaches, I’m not so sure he is eager to get rid of Fangio at the first sign of struggle.
Would it do one of the youngest teams in the NFL any good if we were to fire Fangio during the 2021 season? Firing a head coach usually means a heavy coaching staff turnover, which would put the team right back on square one.
Vic Fangio is a fine head coach. He may never be great, but the players respect him, and he is a defensive whiz. I think him being in on the hiring process of George Paton cannot be overstated.
To me, all signs would point to Fangio being in Denver beyond 2021, unless the team has a depressing collapse.
Culture
While the Broncos haven’t been relevant since 2015, the culture of the team and its standing around the league remain strong.
One thing that Vic Fangio has done and is doing much better than Vance Joseph was instilling a strong culture within the locker room. Players love playing for Fangio, and the 2019 team was leaps and bounds better than the product that Joseph helped put on the field.
Fangio is an old fashioned, no-nonsense type of coach. He rarely, if ever makes excuses for the team and somehow managed to keep a competitive defense on the field, even though the team was missing upwards of seven starters.
Additionally, the Broncos standing with the rest of the league is still strong. Pat Bowlen was one of, if not the best owner in the NFL during his tenure. Over the years, the Broncos quickly developed a strong reputation as being a good, well run football team.
John Elway’s GM tenure was more of the same. The Broncos made two Super Bowls in his 10 years, and continue to remain atop the league in terms of football operations.
Simply put, the Broncos have been a well run, well-respected organization for years, and have had no problems signing free agents over the years.
Just look at teams like Houston and Washington, for example. Two organizations that have had front office trouble and instability, quickly painting themselves poorly.
The Broncos aren’t perfect. They have their fair share of issues, especially on defense, but the team remains a well-run, well functioning organization from the top down.
With the hire of George Paton, who is respected league-wide, the Broncos appear to be on the uptick, regardless if he gets Deshaun Watson.