Thread: At What Point Is This Elway's Fault?

Originally Posted by Tbolt

I always thought Elway didn't like how much credit Wade got for SB50, and that led to his departure. Elway is a big time egomaniac. Which is why we have VaJ as coach instead of someone with some actual say.

His drafts, on a whole, have sucked. This year was a different approach and finally paying some dividends. Still loves him some broken TE's though.

Hands were tied at QB. They wanted Baker. Baker went #1. I think he liked Allen, but not with Chubb on the board. Paxton was a 1st round investment. I can see giving him one more TC to move up to backup. Couldn't hold it against Chad I just ate what was in the fridge and took a nap on your couch Kelly. The fact that Paxton sucks soooooo bad, he hasn't been signed ANYWHERE, but Mark Sanchez has, is pretty telling.

I am not saying fire Elway, but he needs to bring in a top flight coach and back the hell off.

From what the Broncos beat-writers have written and said about the inside story in Dove Valley:

1. Wade wanted to be the highest paid DC, and Elway didn't want to keep him. He wanted to promote Joe Woods, who was the up and coming guy for a DC job for some reason that only the inbred minds of the NFL understand. For some reason, a guy becomes the "next hot commodity" and the reasons never make sense in retrospect. It's just a herd mentality or something. Hence Joe Woods and goodbye Wade!

2. The 2018 draft was largely due to the influence of Gary Kubiak whom Elway brought back this year to be the Draft Guru for offensive players. In years past you saw tons of idiot selections.

Just look at the 2017 draft, outside of Garrett Bolles:

3. Elway had a plan. He told the media what it was. He never intended to take a QB not any QB. That was because "we're not kicking Paxton to the curb." He announced this at his presser. If they drafted a 1st round QB they would have to release Paxton. There would be no point in keeping him at that point, since obviously, Keenum would start until the rookie QB was ready some time this season. Lynch would be totally supplanted.

Elway wasn't willing to do that, no matter how loudly the fans yelled for Paxton to be gone. His stupid obsession with proving himself right about his draft blunder lasted right up till August 2018 when every fan in Denver could see that Paxton was a bust at least 1 year prior to this, when he failed to win the job over a 7th rounder who wasn't great - Trevor. Not Elway though. He kept making excuses until Paxton failed to do anything in his 3rd preseason forcing Elway to finally agree to cut him.

And he fell straight out of the league for good. I don't think he even really wants to come back now. I think he realizes being an NFL QB is just a lot more work than he really wants to do.

Originally Posted by Slick

You spent months telling us that Elway wasn’t going to tie up 30 million in CBs and several of us told you we should still keep Talib.

I said Elway wasn't going to do it. I didn't say I wouldn't do it. I was telling you what Elway was going to do, but their own NFL logic.

If I were an owner I'd do things very, very differently. For one thing I wouldn't give a damn about "current earnings" if my ownership interest was appreciating from $87 million to $2.5 billion. So, I could actually sign as many veterans as I wanted. You have to be careful not to hire veterans who suck and have to be cut, giving you a big cap hit.

But signing bonuses come out of current revenues. Signing bonuses are the way to get players and manage the cap too, because they are pro-rated over the life of the contract.

I wasn't against getting rid of DT, and you don't see me complaining about them trading him in mid season. I was not in favor of getting rid of Talib.

He has some time, but trust is wearing thin. The only thing that changes my opinion on that is if he sticks with VJ past this year. He should have fired him last year, should have fired him at various points this year...if he isn't canned by 12/31/18 then I will have lost faith in Elway.

Originally Posted by Buff

Who is going to fire John Elway? Joe Ellis? Until the team's ownership situation gets resolved, I think it's kind of a moot point - the job is probably his for as long as he wants it.

At the end of the day a GM's success is most directly tied to the head coach and QB. We are in pretty bad spots on both, so how he handles the next reboot is going to be critical to #7's legacy as GM.

I agree with you that Joe Ellis probably is unable to fire Elway because they are under threat of lawsuit from Beth and Brittany and Bill Bowlen over the Trust management.

This thread is for Broncos fans to express their opinions though. SHOULD Elway be fired? Should he just continue as is? Should he be told to appoint a permanent GM to handle player personnel? Remember that he wasn't the GM when he was appointed, he was President of Football Operations and they had a GM whom Elway got rid of.

Per Mike Klis of 9NEWS, the Denver Broncos' boss won't shake up the scouting or personnel departments, led by director of player personnel Matt Russell and senior advisor Gary Kubiak. A few teams such as the Texans and Raiders, Klis notes, are cleaning house in the wake of the 2018 draft, though those moves are typically made in the first year of new regimes.

The Broncos have no reason to fix what isn't broken, following a 10-player rookie class that's receiving league-wide acclaim. Several mainstream outlets praised Elway for landing arguably the best prospect in this year's draft, edge defender Bradley Chubb, and stealing wide receiver Courtland Sutton on Day 2, among other moves to fill his most glaring roster holes (RB Royce Freeman, CB Isaac Yiadom, ILB Josey Jewell, TE Troy Fumagalli).

Elway had a great draft, but a lot of that was because they brought in Gary Kubiak to handle offensive draft eval, and demoted Matt Russell to evaluating defense. Problem is that Kubiak is reported to want to get back into coaching again as an assistant coach (less stress for his heart health?)

If Kubiak were to leave that would be bad. They might go back to picking guys based on their athleticism rather than their football IQ and proven leadership. The guys they drafted this year were mostly team captains in college. That shows in the level of maturity and leadership on the field.

Point #7 He cut chad kelly for sitting on a couch

Point #8 He though Mark Sanchez was an option at QB

Originally Posted by ShaneFalco

Point #7 He cut chad kelly for sitting on a couch

Point #8 He though Mark Sanchez was an option at QB

It wasn't for illegally entering someone else's residence? Just couch sitting?

Originally Posted by ShaneFalco

Point #7 He cut chad kelly for sitting on a couch

Point #8 He though Mark Sanchez was an option at QB

Chad Kelly is facing criminal prosecution for breaking and entering is he not? NObody picked him up did they? I'd give you point #8 but Sanchez didn't get out of training camp before being cut.

Kelly was on thin ice when he came into the league, with a history of bone headed immature decisions like getting into an onfield brawl when he was sitting in the stands watching a game. His excuse for doing that was no excuse.

There were lots of other indications of being just an incurable bone-head. The idea was "now that he's in the NFL he's matured." And then we learn that he hasn't.

He gets no more chances in the NFL. I hope he goes to the Canadian league, and can turn his career around. Then maybe he gets another chance. But, maybe not. Right now, I'd be surprised to see any team invite him to training camp.

It's his fault when we do well. It's his fault when we suck. He's the head honcho. That's how it works. Saying he's to blame doesn't mean I want him fired. It means he needs to do better.

Originally Posted by Dapper Dan

It's his fault when we do well. It's his fault when we suck. He's the head honcho. That's how it works. Saying he's to blame doesn't mean I want him fired. It means he needs to do better.

I never knew Chad Kelly was this important! That's why Shane's so mad.

Originally Posted by King87

I never knew Chad Kelly was this important! That's why Shane's so mad.

He's a passionate man. I choose not to engage him when he's going full HAM.

I don't think Elway's in any immediate danger of going anywhere. This draft class for sure helps his case, but he's gotta find something better at QB soon. Right now he's still coasting on SB 50, but that is wearing thin.

He needs to hit on whoever the next coach is. He needs to find a QB. He built an incredible defense, he needs to figure out a way to get that defense back on par.

He needs to get us back to the playoffs. If we don't make the playoffs again in the next three years, his seat starts getting toasty at that point.

I think Elway is absolutely to blame for a lot of where we are right now, but I don't think he's in a position where he needs to worry about a pink slip for a few more years.

Originally Posted by Mike

He has some time, but trust is wearing thin. The only thing that changes my opinion on that is if he sticks with VJ past this year. He should have fired him last year, should have fired him at various points this year...if he isn't canned by 12/31/18 then I will have lost faith in Elway.

Elway wanted to fire VJ, but Ellis puled rank. Convinced him not to do so.

Originally Posted by underrated29

Elway wanted to fire VJ, but Ellis puled rank. Convinced him not to do so.

Do you know this for certain or just theory?

Originally Posted by underrated29

Elway wanted to fire VJ, but Ellis puled rank. Convinced him not to do so.

So many different accounts...Some people say Kubiak talked him out, some say Ellis pulled rank. Bottom line, VJ survived and he shouldn't have. Elway needs to course correct. Had we won out, I'd have said VJ stays, we didn't win out, even that would be something that could be overlooked if it wasn't for the way in which we lost (which was very typical for a VJ coached team in the last two years)

Originally Posted by Northman

Do you know this for certain or just theory?

It's never been 100 percent confirmed and as I mentioned above, some claim Kubiak talked him out, some claim Ellis did, for all we know Elway had a change of heart, there hasn't been official confirmation, just rumors.