So much for continuity in the offseason for the Broncos. On Monday in a surprise move, John Elway announced that he is stepping away from the General Manager role with the Broncos. He will be elevated to President of Football Operations, but will lead the new search to find a new GM, who will have final say on the roster, draft, and free agency. This move was a surprise and it wasn't mentioned the past few days by anyone connected to the Broncos and Elway. It is not a total surprise because Elway's contract was set to expire after next season, and it was hard to believe that Elway was going to sign on for another extension at this point of his life and career-especially with the way the Broncos have floundered the past four years. There is a lot to digest here, so I'll go through my thoughts on this in a bulleted format.
-I think this is the best move for Elway at this point, and I always knew that this was the way that Elway would leave the GM spot. He is going to be still involved with the team as a President of Football Operations, which was his original title when he joined the front office in 2011, but he won't be making the final decisions on the roster, personnel, draft, and free agency. Elway won't be involved in the day to day operations, and it will be a way for him to stay in the organization and find a new voice to lead the football side of the front office. Joe Ellis was never going to fire John Elway. Heck, I don't even know if Pat Bowlen would have fired John Elway if he was still alive. This was always going to be the way for Elway to step away from the GM role.
-I think it is right time for Elway to step back from this role. The team is in the midst of its' worst stretch in franchise history going back to the early 70s. They have missed the playoffs five straight seasons since winning Super Bowl 50, and they are a franchise that is at a lowpoint in terms of winning. It was time to get a new voice and a new mindset in that spot.
-The problems that plagued Elway the last five years were that he had trouble finding the right head coach and had trouble finding that franchise level QB. It is hard to find those two components for a NFL team, and if you don't have that, then it will be hard to win games. I think Elway found that out the hard way the last few years. He whiffed on the hire of Vance Joseph as head coach in 2017, and he whiffed on the drafting QB Paxton Lynch in the 1st round of the 2016 draft. He also whiffed on signing free agent QBs like Case Keenum and Joe Flacco. That is the main reason why the Broncos have had four straight losing seasons. I also think that at times Elway might have meddled too much with some of the assistant coaching decisions, and that ultimately might have hurt the franchise, but in the end with a guy like John Elway running the show, it is hard to not be the face of the organization instead of the head coach being that guy.
-Elway will have a say in the GM search and there are some names that have already filtered out as front runners. Adam Peters from San Francisco and Champ Kelly from Chicago both have ties to the Broncos organization and could make a lot of sense. I expect a few other names to surface, but I think Elway and Vic Fangio will want to find a guy that they are familiar with and have some connection with. I don't expect any "Wild Card" or "Out of the Box" candidates.
-As far as Elway's legacy as GM goes in Denver, you can't argue with his accomplishments his first five years. The Broncos won five straight AFC West titles, he won a division and a playoff game with Tim Tebow, signed Peyton Manning, went to 2 Super Bowls, and won the franchise's third Lomabrdi Trophy in 2015. Even in 2016, the Broncos went 9-7 with Trevor Siemian at QB only to miss the playoffs by one game. People forget how many experts and analysts ripped the Broncos for hiring Elway back in 2011. The Broncos were considered a joke for doing it, but Elway made a lot of key decisions. He got John Fox to come in and coach in 2011, and he recruited Peyton Manning to come to Denver in 2012. He made a lot of great free agent signings (DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, Emmanuel Sanders) to help the Broncos compete for a Super Bowl with Manning there. He always uncovered a few undrafted free agents (Chris Harris and Philip Lindsay) and his first few drafts and last few drafts were very good. The Broncos roster right now has plenty of young talent and it is better than their 5-11 record. I know the last four years were bad, but any GM would love to have Elway's resume after 10 years on the job.
-I will never forget the feeling of seeing John Elway standing on the podium after Super Bowl 50 and accepting the Lombardi Trophy and saying "This one's for Pat!" 17 years after Pat Bowlen stood on the podium and said "This one's for John!" after the Broncos won Super Bowl XXXII. To see John Elway, the greatest Denver Bronco of all time, come back and guide the team to another Super Bowl, this time as a GM, is one of the coolest experiences that I could imagine. John Elway was my hero growing up. To see him come back and deliver another championship to the Broncos was just simply amazing.
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