The Squeeze: Elway chats with Bleacher Report

[Denver Native (Carol)]

1. John Elway's offseason thoughts

Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole recently sat down with Broncos EVP/GM John Elway.

Cole and Elway touched on a number of topics, including the challenges this offseason presented and how Elway, a three-time Super Bowl winner, stays motivated.

A glimpse at some of Elway’s answers ahead of the 2016 season:

“There are challenges every year. That’s why this year in free agency and all that, there are challenges every year trying to keep things together. So that’s always a challenge. Was it a big surprise that we were in that situation? Yeah, because I thought…we drafted Brock [Osweiler] when we got Peyton [Manning] because we didn’t know exactly what Peyton was going to be. But also, if [Manning] wasn’t in good shape, we were going to a guy who was going to be here for a long, long time. Now, that didn’t work out, so it was a matter of, you have to fix the issue. There are going to be issues every year.”

rest - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-squeeze/The-Squeeze-Elway-chats-with-Bleacher-Report/d76b33a6-4fa9-4088-bc43-00ce98f056bc

[Davii]

I like the video in the article of Lil Dicky trying to rile up Von, Antonio Brown, and Gronkowski over the Madden cover.

[Cugel]

I always look for actual news in these interviews. The interesting statement was Elway saying that they drafted Osweiler because "we didn’t know exactly what Peyton was going to be."

That's what everybody thought, but that's not what Elway said at the time. Nobody was sure how long Manning would play or how good he'd be when they signed him. That was a Elway taking a calculated risk that paid off in 50 wins, 2 SB appearances and 1 SB championship in 4 years.

"But also, if [Manning] wasn’t in good shape, we were going to a guy who was going to be here for a long, long time."

Once Osweiler showed he could play, they tried to re-sign him to a long term deal. They were confident they would get that done, but it didn't happen because the Texans offered $18M a year.

It does cost them in that they don't have a really good QB prospect for 2016, but Paxton Lynch - long term - is a lot better prospect than Osweiler ever was. Osweiler showed the ability to be a good NFL QB, but nothing in his game shows he could be a top 10 QB, and hopefully he never will be.

Lynch on the other hand has more upside potential, but he's also completely raw and not ready to start this season. It will take him a lot longer to be ready to start than Osweiler who is ready now. So, that costs them this year, but could pay dividends in the long run.

[Simple Jaded]

"Once Osweiler showed he could play they tried re-sign him to a longterm deal".

Not how I remember it, iirc, once he showed he could play they sat his ass on the bench.

[tomjonesrocks]

rest - http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-squeeze/The-Squeeze-Elway-chats-with-Bleacher-Report/d76b33a6-4fa9-4088-bc43-00ce98f056bc

It's a great article - thanks Carol.

"But of the guys who were out there at the time, there were no difference-makers. So why would I overpay for a guy who wasn’t going to be a difference-maker?"

He's talking about FAs, but I think we can infer he did not feel Brock was a difference maker.

I wonder then if we can also infer he thinks CJ Anderson can be.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

It's a great article - thanks Carol.

"But of the guys who were out there at the time, there were no difference-makers. So why would I overpay for a guy who wasn’t going to be a difference-maker?"

He's talking about FAs, but I think we can infer he did not feel Brock was a difference maker.

I wonder then if we can also infer he thinks CJ Anderson can be.

CJ was a difference maker in several games last year, big games.

[Cugel]

"Once Osweiler showed he could play they tried re-sign him to a longterm deal".

Not how I remember it, iirc, once he showed he could play they sat his ass on the bench.

They were always going to start Peyton in the playoffs for experience reasons. NO QB has ever won a SB in his first season as starting. Osweiler got butt hurt about it and left, but screw him. That was the right decision and resulted in a SB championship. If Osweiler was still butt-hurt and thought it was the wrong decision AFTER they won the SB with Peyton, then double screw him.

But, they made their offer ($13M a year initially) AFTER and not before they had seen Osweiler start.

Their decision to make him the long-term starter (by offering to pay him $64M, with $30M guaranteed) had nothing to do with benching him for the playoffs.

[Cugel]

It's a great article - thanks Carol.

"But of the guys who were out there at the time, there were no difference-makers. So why would I overpay for a guy who wasn’t going to be a difference-maker?"

He's talking about FAs, but I think we can infer he did not feel Brock was a difference maker.

I wonder then if we can also infer he thinks CJ Anderson can be.

No. He offered Osweiler a $64M 4-year contract with $30M guaranteed. He isn't in the habit of giving $30M guaranteed contracts to players he DOESN'T think will "make a difference."

That is a shit load of money.

Elway wanted Brock to be the franchise QB, but the Texans offered $18M a year, $72M, with $37 M guaranteed. That's $12M more than the Broncos offered over 4 years and $7M more guaranteed.

[DenBronx]

Big difference in pay but everything I saw from Oz told me he wasn't worth that kind of money, at least here. Maybe for the Texans but not us. I was never wowed by what Oz could do and the loss to the raiders got me pissed off.

In the end we saved a ton of salary that can go towards Von.

[TXBRONC]

I always look for actual news in these interviews. The interesting statement was Elway saying that they drafted Osweiler because "we didn’t know exactly what Peyton was going to be."

That's what everybody thought, but that's not what Elway said at the time. Nobody was sure how long Manning would play or how good he'd be when they signed him. That was a Elway taking a calculated risk that paid off in 50 wins, 2 SB appearances and 1 SB championship in 4 years.

"But also, if [Manning] wasn’t in good shape, we were going to a guy who was going to be here for a long, long time."

Once Osweiler showed he could play, they tried to re-sign him to a long term deal. They were confident they would get that done, but it didn't happen because the Texans offered $18M a year.

It does cost them in that they don't have a really good QB prospect for 2016, but Paxton Lynch - long term - is a lot better prospect than Osweiler ever was. Osweiler showed the ability to be a good NFL QB, but nothing in his game shows he could be a top 10 QB, and hopefully he never will be.

Lynch on the other hand has more upside potential, but he's also completely raw and not ready to start this season. It will take him a lot longer to be ready to start than Osweiler who is ready now. So, that costs them this year, but could pay dividends in the long run.

Cug, Elway thinks Lynch could be ready sooner than some people think. That leaves the door wide open for Lynch to possibly take the reins this season.

[FanInAZ]

Well, I guess this settles it; Elway has officially recognized “The Bleacher Report” as a legitimate media source.