This morning, our fearless leader, James Merilatt, brought up the scary, yet very realistic, possibility that Brock Osweiler may end up bolting in free agency, leaving the Denver Broncos in a very precarious situation.
As Merilatt details, Osweiler re-signing in Denver is anything but a sure thing. While bringing back the supposed heir-apparent may be high on John Elway‘s to-do list, so is re-signing Von Miller, Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan and about five or six other key contributors on the Broncos’ championship team; there’s only so much money to go around.
And given that Osweiler has already proven, at least to some extent, that he’s a capable NFL starter, it’s hard to imagine the Broncos will be the only franchise fighting for his services; the market for young, talented signal callers rarely runs dry.
So, then, what happens if Osweiler gets wooed away by the Cleveland Browns or the Los Angeles Rams? What if the Broncos can’t afford to match?
Well, the most obvious answer is clearly Peyton Manning, but that’s a little nerve racking, isn’t it? And the Broncos can’t even be sure that Manning will come back. In fact, if Manning did return for one more season, it’d largely be seen as a massive mistake.
So who are the other options?
Here are five quarterbacks who could be playing in Denver next season if, in this doomsday scenario, Osweiler bolts and Manning retires:
The Reclamation Projects: Johnny Manziel / Robert Griffin III
Before we dive any further into this, let me make this clear: I’m not advocating that the Denver Broncos sign Johnny Manziel or Robert Griffin III; I’m simply saying it’s a possibility.
Now, let’s break this down.
In each case, we have a former Heisman Trophy winner who has shown both flashes of talent — brilliance, in RGIII‘s case — and elite-level knuckleheadity (if that’s not a word, it should be). Through this point in their careers, the latter has better come to represent their attitudes towards football, but they’re still young, which means that there may still be hope.
RGIII, 26, is a year removed from his last meaningful snap in the NFL and even further removed from his last meaningful injury — an important point. And while his stock resembles the DOW following the crash of the housing bubble, his numbers are actually fairly appealing:
PASSING: 63.9 perecent completion; 8,097 yards; 7.6 yards/attempt; 40 touchdowns; 23 interceptions
RUSHING: 1,480 yards; 6.1 yards/attempt; 8 touchdowns
Now, to be fair, those numbers don’t really tell the whole story; RGIII was a mess, both on the field and in the locker room, during his final season as the starter in Washington; any team that brings him in will be bringing in his baggage too.
Nonetheless, it makes sense. RGIII did achieve his best success under Mike Shanahan, Gary Kubiak‘s mentor.
Manziel is a different story, though. Unlike RGIII, Manziel hasn’t really ever shown the ability to win in the NFL, and, more importantly, his off-the-field issues are much more severe. In fact, they could be career ending.
It would be a waste to go into all of Manziel’s “issues” right now — I’m sure most everybody is aware of them anyway — but I can safely say that they are serious enough that I wouldn’t want him in Denver, no matter how high his upside is. I think the same should go for most every franchise in the NFL.
Manziel needs to take care of himself first, and then maybe we can start talking about a comeback story.
Still, I could see Elway making a play for either of these guys. While they’re both under contract for next season, they’re undoubtedly up for auction, and if that doesn’t work, they’ll be cut in due time. There’s enough there that a guy like John Elway could find himself thinking he could revitalize one of these guys’ career.
The Unknown: Chase Daniel
When I say, “Chase Daniel,” you say, “Who!”
“Chase Daniel!”
“Who!”
“Chase Daniel!”
“Who!”
Alright, so this may not be the, uh, sexy option, but it is an option, nonetheless.
Six years removed from being undrafted out of Missouri, Daniel is finally getting an opportunity to compete for a starting job. A free agent, Daniel spent his first three seasons in New Orleans behind Drew Brees and his last three in Kansas City behind Alex Smith.
This offseason, though, he’ll be a free agent, and he might just be the diamond in the rough … might.
He may just have 77 pass attempts to his name, but 57 of those, which came in his two career starts, looked pretty darn good — for backup, at least.
Now, listen, I’m not going to sugar coat this: If Chase Daniel ends up being the Denver Broncos starting quarterback in 2017, things have gone very, very wrong. Still, for a Plan F or G, it could be worse.
The only scenario where this becomes a real possibility is if Brock and Peyton bolt, the top (if you can call them that) quarterbacks all sign elsewhere, and Elway brings Daniel in on a (dirt) cheap contract to compete with whatever rookie he drafts.
Sexy? No. Exciting? Not really. But if we do hit this doomsday scenario, where we’re heading into the heart of the offseason without a quarterback, it may not end pretty.
The Upside: Colin Kaepernick
I don’t care what Colin Kaepernick has done in the last two seasons; at the end of the day, we’re talking about a quarterback who was within a first-and-goal of winning the Super Bowl and a Richard Sherman tipped pass from playing in consecutive championship games.
The guy can win.
Now, maybe he was buoyed by a great offensive line and a fantastic defense, but he was a legitimate star in his own right. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a playoff performance as dominant as his divisional round beatdown of the Green Bay Packers — 263 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 181 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns.
It’s been an ugly two years, but Kaepernick was the least of San Francisco’s problems; between Harbaugh, the retirements and the confusion up top, the 49ers were about as big of a mess as any franchise in the NFL.
Maybe a change of scenery will do him good?
He’s still under contract, but with overhaul being the name of the game in San Francisco, they may be very willing to move on from their former second-round pick — they did bench him for Blaine Gabbert. Not to mention, Kaepernick has already let slip that he wants out of the Bay Area.
The “Meh”: Sam Bradford
By “Meh,” I mean “Eh,” “I dunno” and “Whatever.”
Or, to put it in other terms, the least-inspiring, yet understandable, option on the market.
Sam Bradford will be a free agent this offseason, and somebody will snag him up, but what does he actually do?
Making just under $13 million with the Eagles last season, Bradford was mediocrity personified. He went 7-7, completing 65 percent of his passes for 3,725 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He got better as the season wore on, but he never truly inspired confidence in anybody.
Still, those numbers — sorry, Peyton — look a whole lot better than the quarterback that led Denver to the Super Bowl. Maybe that’s all you need to win with this Broncos defense in the picture?
Bradford is a professional quarterback, with all the natural talent in the world; that’s about the best thing going for him.
If he ended up in Denver next season, I think most Broncos fans would be able to talk themselves into the former Heisman winner by the start of training camp, but I doubt anybody would be praising him as any kind of difference maker.
Simply put, he’s a caretaker.
The New Guy: TBD
If Brock Osweiler leaves Denver, Peyton Manning retires and free agency comes up dry, then there’s really only one more option: The draft.
And apparently, the Broncos are already looking at that scenario.
According to WalterFootball.com, Denver has their eyes locked on a couple of this year’s top prospects:
“Even if Osweiler is re-signed, drafting a quarterback early in the 2016 NFL draft is definitely in play for Denver. The Broncos loved North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz, but know that he won’t be getting anywhere near Denver’s pick. However, the team also is enamored with Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott. He is a good fit in Gary Kubiak‘s offense and sources say that Prescott is in play for the Broncos on the second-day of the draft.”
Now, if Denver really is left up the creek without a paddle, entering the draft with no quarterback in place, Prescott may not make much sense; he’s a developmental project at best. Carson Wentz, though, is the real deal. The problem is that Elway would have to give up a king’s ransom to move up high enough to snag him.
That leaves Denver with two options: (1) Hope that one of the the draft’s top three prospects — Wentz, Jared Goff or Paxton Lynch — fall far enough that it makes sense for the Broncos to move up and grab them; or (2) they buy low on Connor Cook or Christian Hackenberg, hoping they can regain the play that had scouts talking about them as first-round talents a year or so ago.
If all those guys slip past Elway’s grasps, then Prescott may very well be the guy. That, or another developmental, high-risk prospect in Cardale Jones.