Nobody in their right mind blamed John Elway and the Denver Broncos for passing on Josh Allen during the 2018 NFL Draft. Although hindsight is 20/20, Allen was one of the most polarizing prospects of the 2018 NFL Draft class. A physical marvel, Allen had the size, arm strength, and athletic traits every NFL team covets at the quarterback position.
The problem coming out of college was that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Allen struggled with accuracy throughout his time at Wyoming. Sprinkled in were big-time throws and jaw-dropping plays, but the consistency wasn't there. He was not a no-brainer selection with the 5th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft until he proved on the field to be the best player in that class overall (and by a long shot).
Now, with Allen making everyone who passed on him look like a fool, the regret has settled in. For Elway, he's already admitted that passing on Allen is his biggest regret as an NFL general manager. Now, however, he's saying things about that particular time in history that will make everyone's head spin.
John Elway says he didn't take Josh Allen because he didn't have "buy in" from the coaching staff
"I really liked Josh Allen. I wanted buy-in from the coaching staff, and I couldn't get the buy-in. ... That's the one regret as a GM." - @johnelway pic.twitter.com/n4LvFBQWzw
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) January 3, 2026
This is news to everyone. Keep in mind that it was John Elway who took Paxton Lynch (traded up to get him, in fact), despite the fact that the staff was higher on Dak Prescott in the 2016 NFL Draft. Keep in mind that it was John Elway who signed off on bringing in Case Keenum to be the starting quarterback in 2018, over a month before the NFL Draft at that.
Also, keep in mind that it was Elway who didn't show up to Laramie for Josh Allen's Wyoming pro day. He sent Gary Kubiak (who was in the front office at that time) along with Brian Stark and other scouts. Why would Elway not have made the short trip to see him in person?
The Broncos had the ability to make more of an educated "guess" on Allen that year than pretty much any team in the NFL. Their coaching staff had Allen at the 2018 Senior Bowl and got to work with him for a full week. They were at Allen's final game for the Cowboys in person. They brought Allen to Denver for a pre-draft visit in April.
Actually, while this seems like a boldfaced lie from Elway, it might actually make more sense than anything else that he didn't have buy-in from the coaching staff. After the team's failure with Paxton Lynch, it seems like everyone might have been a little spooked to take a project-type like Allen. And where Elway may have been more bullish with Lynch in 2016 after just winning the Super Bowl, perhaps the failure there cost him too much conviction.
Not having buy-in from the coaching staff fortifies the position of many in Broncos Country, which is that Josh Allen would never really have become "Josh Allen" if he had ended up in Denver. If Elway is telling the truth, and the coaches didn't want him, then they wouldn't have bent the offensive scheme to make it work like the Bills did.
And you would think that ultimately still falls on Elway, but Elway also wasn't allowed to hire Kyle Shanahan in 2017 because of Joe Ellis and the fractured relationship between the ownership trust and the Shanahan family. The idea that the Broncos could have potentially had Kyle Shanahan as their head coach and Josh Allen as their quarterback is one of the great "what if" scenarios in Broncos history.
All of these torturous roads over the past handful of years have led to the Broncos having Sean Payton as head coach and Bo Nix as the quarterback. They are two wins away from hosting the AFC Championship Game. Nobody's upset about the position the Broncos are in right now, but there's no doubt that a lot of hands are dirty for the team going through one of its darkest times in history.