The Denver Broncos have had quite the offseason when it comes to their quarterback situation.
Having lost Peyton Manning to retirement, and Brock Osweiler to free agency, the Broncos found themselves somewhat desperate to find someone who could stand in that role.
“Was it a big surprise that we were in that situation?,” John Elway said during a Q&A with Bleacher Report. “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,”
The Broncos felt safe with Osweiler being a solid backup to Peyton, but after he left, it was scramble time for Denver.
“Well, the first thing we did is we got Mark [Sanchez] and I feel good about Mark,” Elway said. “So by getting Mark — and we’re a lot higher on him than a lot of people are — so once we landed Mark and he was here, we felt better about the situation. It was a matter of bringing somebody in for competition. 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?”
Other teams in the NFL showed little faith in Sanchez, who has only started 10 games in the last two seasons, but Elway believes he has already proven himself.
“He’s been to the AFC Championship Game. He has won playoff games. Those are all things that you wonder about guys who haven’t done it and you don’t know how they will react when they get there. He’s proven he can do that,” said Elway.
Now that OTAs have begun, the Broncos seem ready to go with Mark Sanchez, Paxton Lynch, and Trevor Siemian running the show.
