The Denver Broncos have had a pretty strong offseason under new general manager George Paton. There are moves they may live to regret, however.
The 2021 regular season is nearly upon us, which means there’s not much more time to speak in hypotheticals. Games are about to begin, and the Denver Broncos will put one of the most talented rosters they have had in the last decade out onto the field.
As talented as the roster is from top to bottom, there are moves the team made over the course of the last six or seven months that are not beyond questioning by the fans.
New general manager George Paton brought some fresh eyes to a roster that had been built, deconstructed, and then rebuilt by John Elway, who stepped down from his role as GM that he held for nearly a decade.
Paton came over from the Minnesota Vikings where they had not won a Super Bowl (ever, but also in his many years there) but certainly have built a number of impressive rosters that have been in contention in the NFC.
As a first-year general manager, Paton was not exactly afforded the same patience as he may have been from other fan bases because he inherited a team that has tried and failed a number of ways to find a long-term solution at the quarterback position since winning the Super Bowl in February 2016.
Although Paton made excellent moves overall and was aggressive as he promised when he was first hired, are there some moves this team may live to regret?
Let’s look at some possibilities…
5 moves in 2021 the Denver Broncos may live to regret
1. Not drafting a quarterback
Sitting at pick number nine overall, there were many articles written and many videos made, many tweets sent out discussing the possibility of any of the top prospects at the quarterback position falling into George Paton’s lap.
After the San Francisco 49ers traded up to the third overall pick, the chances of the Denver Broncos getting one of the top four QBs in this class seemed rather slim, though there was always a chance one of Mac Jones, Justin Fields, or Trey Lance could be there depending on what the San Francisco 49ers decided to do.
The day before the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Broncos traded for veteran Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers absorbed a significant chunk of his contract to facilitate the trade.
That trade didn’t seem like it would prevent the Broncos from going quarterback in round one, but in hindsight, perhaps it did.
The Broncos landed Patrick Surtain II with the 9th overall pick, a shocking selection considering they had just made moves in free agency to land Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller.
To many fans, Surtain felt like overkill, and even if he becomes a star, a lot of fans in Broncos Country will have one eye on how things play out with Justin Fields in Chicago after the Bears moved up to the 11th overall spot to get him.
There will also have to be one eye on how Mac Jones fares with the New England Patriots, who took him 15th overall. He played well enough to get Cam Newton cut and usher in the new era of Patriots football immediately.
Although the Bears’ front office and coaching staff may have moved up for Fields out of desperation, it could be a job-saving move for both GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy.
For the Patriots, Jones was a tailor-made fit for Josh McDaniels’ offense from the beginning, but George Paton never got the chance (despite two Alabama pro days) to go and see Jones firsthand.
Time will tell if the Broncos made the right or wrong choice passing on both of these guys for Surtain, but even if Surtain turns out to be a perennial All-Pro, if either Justin Fields or Mac Jones becomes an All-Pro quarterback, it will be a decision the Denver Broncos may live to regret.
2. Choosing Mike Boone over Phillip Lindsay
Ultimately, we can now see that it wasn’t just Mike Boone the Denver Broncos chose over Phillip Lindsay, it was Javonte Williams they chose over Phillip Lindsay.
After his stellar rookie season in 2018, Lindsay’s play slowly has declined over the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Denver Broncos. He had still been a sparkplug for the offense, but his involvement was the lowest it’s been in 2020 with Pat Shurmur calling the plays, and it was sort of sad to see Lindsay’s future with the team unfolding as the 2020 season progressed.
The Broncos gave Lindsay an “original round” restricted free agent tender, basically making him an unrestricted free agent with the opportunity to match any offer he received in free agency.
It wasn’t an overly robust market for Lindsay in free agency as he landed with the Houston Texans, who were shopping for bargains at literally every position.
George Paton opted to let Lindsay go after evaluating the 2020 film and instead, he brought in Mike Boone, another undrafted player from the class of 2018.
Boone may not contribute like Lindsay did as a featured runner, but he may make more contributions as a receiver and special teams player.
Still, for the price, it’s hard to wonder if the Broncos made the right call letting Lindsay walk. Lindsay has been a fan favorite and certainly had carried the Denver offense at times through his first couple of seasons in the league.
Did Paton make the right decision choosing Boone (and Javonte Williams) over Lindsay?
Heck, it may have even been John Elway choosing Melvin Gordon and the field over Lindsay when he didn’t give the Colorado Kid an extension last year.
One way or another, we’ll see if the Broncos regret letting Lindsay go.
3. Moves that could have upgraded special teams
This one is a tough one because on one hand, you expect guys to live up to their contracts and you also expect young players to make their mark on special teams.
On the other hand, the Denver Broncos have continued to roll with special teams coordinator Tom McMahon despite more than underwhelming special teams play in recent years.
As good as Brandon McManus has been, and as much of a godsend as Diontae Spencer was upon his arrival in 2019, the decision to stick with McMahon is one that could haunt the Denver Broncos in the 2021 season.
The Broncos also cut a player in safety Chris Cooper who blew the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff away with his special teams play in the preseason and wound up as one of only three non-draft selections to make the Bucs’ roster that weren’t on it last season.
The Broncos cut Cooper in June, but they really couldn’t have taken him on the 90-man roster into the preseason to see if he could contribute to an area of the team that they ultimately had to trade for someone to try and help?
Not only did the Broncos trade for someone to help special teams (meaning they gave up draft assets) but they also used a waiver claim on a defensive back who will hopefully help in that phase of the game.
They needed to go out of house for two special teams players just for coverage units.
I think the Broncos also missed an opportunity to do a late-pick swap with the Los Angeles Rams for punter Corey Bojorquez. Bojorquez went absolutely bonkers in a preseason game against Denver, booming the ball in the punting game and flipping the field for the Rams with ease. The Green Bay Packers saw it and made a deal for him.
Meanwhile, the lone memorable play from Sam Martin’s preseason was a punt that was partially blocked.
I’m not trying to be overly negative here, but it’s fair to be critical given the fact that special teams simply cannot be the reason the Denver Broncos miss the playoffs in 2021.
4. The team’s obsession with Cam Fleming
According to my unofficial tracker, the Denver Broncos have now sacrificed three players worth keeping because of Cam Fleming.
In my eyes, Fleming is player 53 out of 53 on the Denver Broncos’ current roster, but the much smarter idea at this point is to put Fleming on the practice squad and open up a roster spot for a player you have more long-term plans for, because no one is stealing Fleming off the practice squad.
Oh by the way, if you were really afraid of that, you could also protect him on a weekly basis.
It’s astounding that Fleming, whose $1 million guarantee isn’t going anywhere regardless, was not placed on the practice squad as the Denver Broncos sacrificed keeping players like fullback Adam Prentice (now with the Saints), Trey Marshall (a special teams ace who was plucked by the Chargers), and Mac McCain (a young corner who was stolen by the Eagles) to ensure that Fleming was still around.
It will be even worse if, at some point, an injury elsewhere causes the Broncos to cut Fleming, elevate someone else, and put Fleming on the practice squad.
The idea and process of signing Fleming when the Denver Broncos initially did so were exactly on point. After the Ja’Wuan James injury, they covered their butts with the signing of not only Bobby Massie (who won the job) but also Fleming, who was a contender for the job at the time of his signing.
After it became apparent that he wasn’t in contention for the job, the Denver Broncos should have started making plans for stashing him on the practice squad with the exceptions the NFL has made for up to six veteran players on the practice squad.
Instead, we’ve seen at least three young players with promise walk out the door for nothing in return.
5. Not signing Justin Houston
The Denver Broncos’ pass rush group is tremendous, don’t get me wrong.
Von Miller is back, Bradley Chubb is back, and both Jonathon Cooper and Andre Mintze showed nicely in training camp and preseason.
But listen.
Von Miller is coming off of a season-ending injury.
Bradley Chubb is coming off of two straight season-ending injuries (knee and ankle) and was recently detained for failing to appear in court over traffic violations.
While I love Malik Reed as much as the next guy, if you’re planning on making the playoffs in 2021, you need a stash of pass rushers who can get the job done.
Seeing Justin Houston sign with the Baltimore Ravens for one year, $2.075 million was a gut punch for this armchair general manager. Houston at that price is an insane value as he has still managed at least 25 QB pressures each of the last three seasons.
In a diminished role, Houston has maintained his effectiveness on a per snap basis and he would have been an intriguing weapon off the edge, even if the Denver Broncos decided to keep six edge guys or something like that.
Again, who wouldn’t swap Houston for Cam Fleming right now?
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I think some of these moves may be splitting hairs, but others might come back to bite the Denver Broncos with jobs on the line in 2021 and the playoffs a virtual must.